Latest EIM News – July 2018

More than 5,000 professionals from around the world gathered in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the end of May for the American College of Sports Medicine’s 35th Annual Meeting and 9th World Congress on Exercise is Medicine®. Attendees reconnected with friends, gained insights and celebrated several ACSM milestones, including EIM’s 10th anniversary. Here are just a few highlights:

·  Nico Pronk, Ph.D., M.A., FACSM, delivered the Morris/Paffenbarger Exercise is Medicine Keynote Lecture. His “Context Matters for Physical Activity Promotion” lecture highlighted relationships between physical activity and economic impact, organizational and individual performance, and community vitality and emphasized that successful physical activity promotion depends on the context in which it occurs;

·  Dr. Robert Sallis was recognized as a trailblazer for starting Exercise is Medicine 10 years ago during his tenure as the 51st ACSM president;

·  Dr. Chi-Hung Lin and Jennifer West received the 2018 EIM Global Leadership Award;

·  27 representatives from 16 National Centers gathered to discuss the growth of EIM in their respective countries and to share strategies to enhance the sustainability of the Global Health Network;

·  22 people attended the Ambassador training to learn how they can help spread the word about EIM in their local communities;

·  88 EIM campuses were recognized for promoting a culture of wellness;

·  75 people participated in committee meetings to advance EIM; and

·  30+ symposiums, tutorial lectures, colloquiums and posters shared research and tips related to EIM.

The Global Leadership Award honors the determination, passion and innovation of  individuals advancing Exercise is Medicine. Meet the 2018 recipients.

Dr. Chi-Hung Lin is the acting Health Commissioner of New Taipei City, the largest health district in Taiwan with more than four million residents. In 2015, Commissioner Lin was tasked by his mayor to improve the physical and mental health of the 500,000 older adults in New Taipei City. He developed the Fit for Age program, which has provided clinic-based frailty screenings to nearly 60,000 older adults with more than 12,000 patients referred to an exercise program; 500 physicians and 500 fitness professionals have received EIM training. Deputy Chief Hui-Ping Lin and Program Director Vicky Chung accepted the award on Commissioner Lin’s behalf.

Jennifer West is a program manager for the Cabarrus Health Alliance in North Carolina. She has worked tirelessly to implement EIM in her county through women’s health and maternity clinics, federally qualified health centers and free community health clinics. Through a CDC grant, she provided wellness activities for staff and patients; integrated the Physical Activity Vital Sign; and created an online physical activity database. She also mentored neighboring counties. Jennifer now works with the National Association of County and City Health Officials to disseminate EIM to county health departments across the U.S.

Exercise is Medicine On Campus (EIM-OC) launched its recognition program in 2014 to honor registered campuses for their efforts to integrate and promote physical activity on campus. Schools earn gold for establishing physical activity as a vital sign and linking health care and fitness professionals through a referral system; silver for educating students, faculty and staff about the benefits of increased physical activity; or bronze for raising awareness of the health benefits of physical activity. This year, a record 88 campuses were honored in Minneapolis for their efforts to create a culture of wellness on campus.

Four years ago, EIM partner Technogym launched the social campaign Let’s Move For a Better World. As of March 2018, more than 1,000 fitness facilities in 29 countries had joined the movement with more than 180,000 participants. They recorded 628 million “moves,” which contributed to 263+ million calories burned and approximately 83,000 pounds lost. The campaign involves individuals throughout the world visiting fitness and wellness clubs where they can donate their physical movement to a good cause. The club accumulating the highest number of “moves” in each country was awarded Technogym equipment to donate to a school in its community.