Grande Prairie City Council is considering whether to pursue membership into the Prescription Get Active non-profit program.
Get Active is designed to promote physical activity through doctor “prescriptions” for exercise as a way to improve public health within city-owned facilities such as the Eastlink Centre.
Community Knowledge Campus Director Angela Redding presented in council’s most recent committee meetings, saying the move could be a great service for those who need it in the community.
“The way that the prescriptions would work is they would be prescribed by a health care professional to access the facility to attend any of the programs or services that we currently offer, and so it may include the walking track, or it may include fitness classes,” she says.
The World Health Organization says regular physical activity can provide a significant benefit to physical and mental health, but 80 per cent of young people do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity.
Redding suggests that providing exercise prescriptions can allow residents to get healthy while engaging in physical activities in a social or class setting.
“A lot of the prescribing is around the social benefit of getting back into an active lifestyle,” she says.
Should the city move forward with its potential membership, physicians throughout Grande Prairie will have the option to “prescribe” physical activity for their patients at a number of municipally-owned facilities.
