New ‘Kite Mark of Trust’ for the Health & Fitness Market
Active Wellbeing Group launches ‘world first’ in complementary healthcare – professionally accredited self-help DVDs support chiropractor/patient partnership in helping rehabilitation – increased awareness of chiropractic in primary healthcare
(PRWEB) August 4, 2005
Fleet, Hants August 4, 2005 -- Like many millions of others, have you ever suffered from neck or back pain and not known what to do about it? Do you just suffer in silence and hope it will go away, take pain killers or go to your GP?
Have you perhaps started to get headaches after being hunched over your computer all day? Or pulled a muscle after starting to exercise, recognising too late that you simply were not properly prepared?
Chiropractors lead in preventative first-line healthcare:
In response, following two years’ intensive development and with the support of leading academic authorities in chiropractic, Active Wellbeing Group has launched a new series of Active Wellbeing™ self-help DVD programmes.
Approved and recommended by the College of Chiropractors to use as prescribed by a chiropractor, these are designed to assist and speed up patient rehabilitation and recovery, by empowering patients to better understand their condition and become proactive in the management of their own care, under the guidance of a regulated professional.
“In a huge but fragmented market bombarded with sporting, diet, fashion and general fitness programmes – many of which are celebrity-led – Active Wellbeing is the first to give consumers the essential confidence of an independent ‘kitemark of trust’,” says co-founder, Chris Ketley.
“Four out of five adults will suffer neck or back pain at sometime in their lives,” confirms fellow co-founder, Dr Stephen Brown. “Equally disturbing is the fact that more than one third of current sufferers have been in pain for more than 10 years. In line with the latest medical evidence on best care, Active Wellbeing™ helps the individual patient to take control, by making them an active co-partner in helping their own rehabilitation.”
Your virtual personal trainer at home:
Initially available through chiropractic clinics, the new Active Wellbeing™ programmes take the form of self-help DVDs, initially focusing on three key problem areas, namely Lower Back Pain, Neck Pain and Posture and General Fitness. They offer information and individually-designed exercises to complement the care and advice from chiropractors and can be tailored under supervision to meet patients’ individual needs at home.
Critically, all exercises have been developed with the assistance of academic authorities at the forefront of chiropractic education in Europe - the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic (AECC) and Welsh Institute of Chiropractic (WIC). Patients can thus be assured that that the exercises meet the highest standards and reflect current chiropractic best practice.
“This important initiative means that patients can easily follow a prescribed exercise programme at home which supports recommended treatment from their chiropractor,” says Dr Ken Vall, principal of the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic.
The importance of early interventions:
More than 5 million adults consult their GP annually with back or neck pain, at a total cost to the NHS of some £800 million. “This becomes a huge drain on doctors’ time and the NHS budget,” says Brown, “With limited knowledge or expertise in this area, many GPs simply have to refer the individual to a specialist, resulting in long delays in appropriate treatment.
“The latest scientific evidence shows that patients do best with early interventions, accurate information and a care plan supervised by a specialist in back and neck pain. By contrast, such appointment delays reduce the likelihood of an early return to normal day-to-day living for the patient and typically increase levels of stress and anxiety,” he believes.
In particular, the Active Wellbeing approach is fully in line with the findings of the recent BEAM (Back pain Exercise And Manipulation) study by the Medical Research Council, which showed that the most successful interventions in the treatment of lower back pain were those including manipulation and exercise.
“As a fully-regulated provider of primary healthcare, chiropractors are able to deliver precisely the rapid, professional response recommended,” confirms Brown. “In addition to providing assurance, expert advice and support, chiropractors and Active Wellbeing self-help programmes can improve general levels of fitness, endurance and strength, by helping patients understand how to manage the risk factors associated with ordinary daily activities.”
Exercise prescription
“We don’t give a second thought about servicing our cars regularly,” says fellow co-founder, Chris Ketley. “Nor is the concept of routine maintenance of man as well as his machine hardly foreign to us: after all, we pay regular visits to the dentist to keep our teeth and gums healthy – and, quite sensibly, supplement this by brushing our teeth daily, to make sure the dentist’s good work is maintained between visits.”
Dr Tim Jay, president of the College of Chiropractors, emphasises that, “every day, chiropractors are providing exercise advice to thousands of patients to help speed up their rehabilitation. Active Wellbeing DVDs are an innovative, practical visual aid that will help educate patients how to properly undertake exercise and enhance the quality of chiropractor-to-patient supervision.”
So, in providing the equivalent of the chiropractors’ ‘toothbrush’, Active Wellbeing responds to the growing demand for people to take charge of their lives - by providing pro-active self-help tools with guidance and supervision from a trusted source. “The easy-to-use, home DVD format recognises that most of the benefit of rehabilitation is lost if the recommended exercises are not regularly maintained,” says Ketley. “Active Wellbeing information for self-help is therefore an essential supplement to the care provided by a chiropractor - and at less than the cost of a single consultation.”
“For us, it is simply a matter of ‘exercise prescription’,” Brown concludes. “In co-partnership with their chiropractor, we are helping people to help themselves.”
Copies of the initial range of DVDs are available from your local chiropractor. Alternatively for further information or how to order please contact info@activewellbeing. co. uk or visit the website on www. activewellbeing. com
Sarah Brambley
+44 1252 727313
Sarahb@whiteoaks. co. uk
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