Week 1 – Exercise is medicine
Leerdoelen:
1. Insight into the (global) impact on health of physical inactivity
2. Knowledge on WHO guidelines for physical activity
3. Knowledge on indications, working mechanism, side effects and complications of
‘Exercise is Medicine’.
Uitleg leerdoelen:
1. In view of the prevalence, global reach and health effect of physical inactivity, the issue
should be appropriately described as pandemic, with far-reaching health, economic,
environmental and social consequences. Not moving enough can lead to different issues, like
for example you will be more at risk for heart diseases. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is the
ability of the heart, lungs and vascular system to deliver oxygen-rich blood to working
muscles during sustained physical activity. CRF is measured by VO 2max, which is important
for cardiovascular and muscular endurance. A high level of VO 2max is associated with living
longer.
2. The WHO has created guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. These
guidelines state that adults should spend at least 150-300 minutes on moderate-intensity
aerobic physical activity in a span of 5 days. Moderate-intensity are exercises in which you
feel your heart rate go up, but are still able to talk (walking, cycling, etc.). Furthermore,
adults should also spend at least 75 -150 minutes on vigorous-intensity aerobic physical
activity. Vigorous-intensity are exercises in which your heart rate goes up by a lot and are not
able to talk more than a few words. These can all be done with aerobic exercises, these are
any type of cardiovascular conditioning or cardio exercises. These cardio exercises could be
walking, swimming, running or cycling for example. Furthermore, adults should also do
muscle-strengthening activities on 2 days a week, this can be accomplished with resistance
exercises. The most common excuses for not exercising include not having time, it is
exhausting and sweating.
3. Doctors should prescribe exercise and lifestyle changes more than pills or surgery, this is
mostly not done due to no knowledge about exercising and lifestyle changes. Sometimes this
is all it takes to help dealing with a chronic disease, however the attitude of the patients
towards these lifestyle changes is also important. Lets look at a few different diseases and
what sport does for them:
a. Cancer It is important to exercise as an prevention to cancer, but also during
treatment for cancer. This is due to the fact that exercising makes an patient
withstand the side effects of the treatment better. The most common side effect is
fatigue and can be helped with exercise. Furthermore, fear and depression will
decrease which will all lead to a better quality of life. When people are physically
active before getting sick they can get more heavy treatments, due to a better
immune system and working mechanism.
b. Heart diseases exercising can reduce your blood pressure. However, most people
who suffer from a heart disease are afraid to exercise due to something happening
to their heart such as a cardiac arrest. The risks of getting a heart attack are very low,
during slow exercises. That is why it is important to start low and go slow.
c. COPD this disease can be caused due to smoking a lot or can be genetic.
, d. Depression exercise is effective to treat unipolar depression. Exercise is
comparable to psychotherapy and antidepressants for depression. This way exercise
will serve as an alternative to established treatments and waiting lists. An example is
running groups with other people who suffer from depression as therapy.
e. Osteoarthritis being more active, due to strength training and right way of
moving, will lead to less pain and more mobility in the affected joints. This will in the
end lead to a better quality of life. Due to effects of more moving less painkillers and
‘sickness leave’ will be needed. Furthermore, there will be less people in need of a
replacement surgery of their hips, knees, etc.
f. Pain being physical active may improve pain severity and physical function, which
will lead to a better quality of life. Therefore being active can reduce pain levels.
Exercise is also important in the prehabilitation, when patients go fitter and more active into
a treatment the outcome of this treatment will be better and there will be less
complications. However, there are also side effects to being more active such as injuries.
Therefore it is important to start slow and build up slowly to decrease the chance of an
injury. Also eating healthy, drink enough water, no smoking and sleep enough hours are
important. Always start with sporting an hour after your meal and be careful in the heat with
dehydration. Since the medical history per person different is, it is important to take
personalized prescription of exercise into account. This personalized fitness plan should
involve FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type) and should make being active more fun
and social!
Week 2 – Behavioural change
Leerdoelen:
1. Knowledge on the most prevalent behaviour change theories/models
2. Insight into different ways behaviour change techniques are used within
healthcare/lifestyle medicine
3. In-depth knowledge about one of these methods, motivational interviewing
Uitleg leerdoelen:
1. Our behaviour are habits that we perform without thinking about it. Altering these
habits and behaviours can eventually lead to huge health improvements, even the
smallest step has an impact. The 3 most used theories for behaviour change are:
a. Theory of planned behaviour behaviour because of intention which is
influenced by personal attitude and social norm.
b. Social cognitive theory behaviour is determined by a few factors:
i. Personal factors also called cognitive factors and are knowledge,
expectations and attitudes.
ii. Environmental factors are social norms, access in community
(availability) and influence on others (ability to change own
environment).
iii. Behavioural factors are skills, practice and self-efficacy. The central
term in this factor is self-efficacy and is the belief you have that you
have the skills to get a certain outcome. There are a few sources of
self-efficacy: