Kelowna doctors swap prescription pills for exercise

KELOWNA — Don’t be surprised if the next time you head to the doctors office, instead of a prescription for pills you get a prescription for physical activity.

It’s all part of a campaign led by the Central Okanagan Division of Family Practice.  For the past six months, the non-profit organization of over 200 local doctors is working to promote exercise as medicine by specifically writing prescriptions for physical activity.

There’s no shortage of research that shows physical activity has a positive impact on an individual’s overall health and well-being.

“We’re discovering that exercise is a key part to almost any kind of health endeavor mental or physical — heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure, arthritis, and a variety of neurological diseases. We need to focus to come back to basic activity. Walking would be a really good start and any kind of activity is better than no activity,” says Dr. Roger Crittenden.

“Sitting is the new smoking. It’s becoming more and more apparent that we are more sedentary. We have all these electronic devices,” he adds.

To solve the problem, Dr. Crittenden and a handful of other physicians have started to write down simple suggestions on what people should do and how much exercise they should get.

Doctors treat the exercise prescription as a referral – making sure patients contact a fitness specialist. The referral depends on what activity is recommended.

Chris Von Lokvenz was given an exercise prescription by her doctor five months ago. She has dealt with heart failure in the past. She says the exercise prescription is exactly what she needed to give her a little boost. Von Lokvenz has been working with a personal trainer.

“I think it’s wonderful. I think our medical system is too prone to giving medications. I mean I have 12 of them, that’s a lot of medication. It’s an exercise program to help me. I’m monitored – my heart rate and blood pressure. So, if I had any fears of what was happening, I would know,” says Von Lokvenz.

Physicians involved in the campaign have given out 100 exercise prescriptions in the Kelowna area and the organization hopes to get more doctors on board.

Don’t be surprised if your next visit to the doctor results in more physical activity.