Nov. 10, 2015
Texas physicians are proving they can lead their patients to
better health through a grassroots commitment to walking together. Doctors are tapping
into the Walk With a Doc Texas (WWAD) initiative to accomplish that goal, according to the Texas Medical Association’s (TMA’s) Texas Medicine magazine.
New statistics reflect the program’s success: Nearly half of Texas’
WWAD patient participants (48 percent) are
meeting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations
for physical activity by walking at least 150 minutes or running 75 minutes per
week, according to WWAD’s first annual survey.
The program’s concept is relatively simple. Under WWAD, physicians
lead their patients in monthly walks and talks in their community to encourage
healthy activity.
Now in its third year, WWAD is a physician-led nonprofit
organization that encourages healthy physical activity in people of all ages,
and seeks to reverse the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle in order to
improve people’s health and well-being.
The focus on obesity and greater physical activity is a
particularly relevant one for Texas, where adult obesity is higher than the
national average. Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data for
2013 showed 30.9 percent of surveyed adult Texans were obese, meaning they had
a body mass index of 30 or more. In 2014, that number went up to 31.9 percent.
The national obesity rate for 2013 was 28.3 percent.
“The program isn’t about just weight loss or exercise. It’s about
moving more, eating better, and learning about simple things that can influence
our health positively. These are the types of changes people can embrace that
lead to success,” says Susan Pike, MD, a Georgetown physician who organized the
first WWAD events in Texas, and still leads walks in her community.
The program’s first annual survey of physician leaders and
participants confirms statewide
success:
- 92.4
percent of participants feel they’re more educated since beginning to participate.
- 79.4
percent say they’ve gotten more exercise.
- 78.8
percent feel more empowered in their interactions with health care
practitioners, such as speaking up with regard to their own health.
- 97.5
percent like the concept of bringing physicians and community members together
outside a health care setting.
The Walk With a Doc program was created in 2005 by Columbus, Ohio, cardiologist David
Sabgir, MD. TMA embraced the concept three years ago, then Texas doctors began
signing up to host walks. The TMA Foundation funds Texas’ WWAD participation with
an annual grant of more than $100,000, which includes support from the TMA
Insurance Trust.
“We’re really grateful that the TMA reached out … and they saw
what we had when we were very small,” says Dr. Sabgir. Today, doctors are leading
program walks in about 40 states and across the globe in Russia, Canada,
Ireland, and Australia.
Fifteen Texas physicians lead 15 Walk With a Doc sites, and the
walks will have attracted an estimated 7,500 participants in 2015 by the time
the year concludes.
Dr. Pike says, “Wellness [is] a lot more than just height, weight, and
blood pressure. It requires a sense of community, a sense of safety, and a
willingness to get together and meet people with common needs and goals. All of
those things are really met within this program.”
TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation,
representing more than 48,000 physician and medical student members. It is
located in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the
state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.
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Contact: Brent
Annear (512) 370-1381; cell: (512) 656-7320; email: brent.annear[at]texmed[dot]org
Marcus Cooper (512) 370-1382; cell: (512) 650-5336; email: marcus.cooper[at]texmed[dot]org
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