8 years ago
6
Quebec doctors can now prescribe exercise
Quebecers in need of physical activity could soon be leaving their doctors with a script for exercise rather than for a prescription drug. The province's 8,800 general practitioners are all getting new prescription pads to give patients direct instructions on how much physical activity they should be doing.
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http://www.cbc.ca
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Doctors have always been able to do this. They've also been able to advise you on your diet and advise you against dangerous activities such as smoking or drinking. It seems silly to act like this is something revolutionary or say things like "The prescription pads allow doctors to instruct patients on how much exercise they should be doing." My doctor was able to do that on the back of my blood test results last month without any sort of fancy prescription pad.
But it has better odds of being followed on the fancy pad and it only costs paper so it's a great initiative.
I have to admit I'm skeptical of the "initiative" value of fancy paper. If people aren't willing to listen to a licensed professional with a regular piece of paper, I have a hard time believing they'll listen to a licensed professional with a fancy piece of paper either.
The CBC version doesn't mention that the reason why it's done all over Quebec is that it was tested in Saguenay and since it had great results they are extending it to the other 15 regions.
Humans aren't rational and medicine is about empirical testing after all.
If you can read French, prefer the Radio-Canada version, because when it's about Quebec CBC tends to be either incomplete or outright misleading.
Could someone explain these cubes? Are they like dice with different activities on each face like this? I googled this but got several different cube tests and I´d just like to be sure. If yes, has someone here used them? Do they work?
It's just a synonym for 15 minutes of activity. The point is to give a physical metaphor to help make exercice more prescription-like.
Apparently, yes!