Power of community

We’ve all felt it.

At some stage in our lives, we have experienced what it’s like to exercise as part of a group. Perhaps it was when we were participating in sport at school. Or maybe it was when you went down to the local gym class.

Whatever the case may have been, chances are we knew that something was different when we trained with the group, as opposed to when we were on our own.

And well, it turns out that there is a direct science behind this phenomenon. In a number of different ways, group exercise has been shown to be more beneficial than exercise alone.

It essentially boils down to the fact that we’re social creatures. As human beings, we thrive on group settings, both externally & internally. It’s pretty clear that group exercise impacts on our adherence to a program quite significantly. There is a whole field of social psychology behind this. Yet, it has also been shown that group exercise has tremendously positive effects on our overall quality of life as a result of when compared with solo exercise. Behind this there are a whole number of reasons.

To go into more detail, we are going to outline a bit more about our specific approach at MTP.

 

Why MTP’s approach to community is so powerful

At MTP Health we wanted to re-imagine Allied Health.

When we first set out to start doing things, we saw that we wanted to be different from what most people were experiencing. We wanted a place where people felt welcomed to come in & get their treatment done. We wanted a place where people didn’t just get their rehab done & get out. We wanted it to be a place where they wanted to come in order to build healthy habits for life, that allow them to elevate far beyond just their rehab.

That’s where we came up with the MTP Model of Care.

Knowing how beneficial community was to the long term health of our patients, we set out to really include some of the crucial elements that have been identified in the research, showing why group exercise is so beneficial.

The Science Behind Group Exercise

As we mentioned above, apart from the intangible benefits that people report when engaging in group exercise, there has been specific studies that show group exercise can be a powerful stress reliever. We know this is incredibly powerful, as for most of our patients who are either in pain, or struggling with health, socialising & finding people who are in similar situations to them can be a real struggle. A lot of people with chronic injuries can have serious mental health troubles, so providing them with a supportive group environment tends to be a very positive thing.

On top of this, there is a whole field of social psychology that shows how group exercise is beneficial for overall health. Specific effects such as social facilitation, the kohler effect and other socially dependent phenomena show that people are generally more likely to push themselves harder & commit to things when they’re around others.

We like to think of community & group exercise as being one of the essential ingredients that helps to facilitate empowerment.

At MTP Health, Empowerment is the core principle that we centre all of our treatment on. 

If what we’re doing isn’t going to empower the person for the long term to help them maintain their health for life & pick up habits for life, then we will make sure it’s only a small part of the picture. To us, this is the essence of value-based healthcare. We want to provide the form of care that is going to have the biggest ROI in terms of long term quality of life & lowered morbidity. When someone is empowered through group programs, the initial investment is usually greater, however, the long term result is far superior.

It’s the community that wins at the end of the day. This is what allowed F45 to go from a humble group fitness gym in Australia to a multinational company.

Empowerment & MTP’s Essential Triad of great results

At MTP Health we’ve identified 3 key factors that go into fostering empowerment for the long term. They are:

1. Community 
2. Education (See an example of the detailed education we provide).
3. Exercise & activity (Example of our premiere program the Knee & Hip Program).

When considered in that order, we start to see tremendous results that are truly lifelong.

What we saw was missing in the majority of allied health was the first 2. Too often, professionals jump straight to the doing, without first getting the person on board with what they have to offer.

We consider these the key factors that allow us to consider the whole person in front of us & effectively work with where they’re at, to get them on board with the process of empowerment for the long term. Because we focus on communication with referrers & supporting medical professionals as a premium, we can ensure that everything is communicated effectively & the person feels as though they are supported.

Sticking With It [Community is About The Long Term]

Getting people to stick with exercise can be a challenge.

What we’ve found after 10 years of working with clients struggling with chronic issues is that when we introduce them to groups & show them the life-changing effects that structured group exercise can have on their lives is that they tend to want to continue with exercise for life. This is where our community at MTP Health comes in to the fold. We work with a large variety of clients who struggle with some pretty serious health conditions on a regular basis.

These people are able to come in multiple times per week, get the positive benefits of group exercise, feel like they’re a part of a community, while also being able to be watched under the eyes of a professional.

Too often, we feel that patients are given a dehumanised approach when it comes to exercise in a rehab setting. They tend to see it as a short term fix that they need to do in order to ‘fix’ what’s wrong, instead of seeing exercise as an incredibly positive & necessary thing to improve their quality of life.

This has tremendous flow-on effects for their health throughout the rest of their life & is something we’re incredibly passionate to be able to deliver.