Getting Started

Beginning the client intervention:

Part of my job as a health professional is to prevent needless illness in my clients. Following a healthy lifestyle is a major way to reduce risks for many chronic diseases.

Take active living for example:
If exercise were a drug, it would be the most prescribed drug in the world! It reduces the risks for several chronic diseases.

ASK about the client’s physical activity level:

Suggestions:

• Are you physically active most days of the week?
• Are you active to the point of feeling warm and breathing faster?
• What do you do to be active? How often? How far or for how long?
• Have you compared your activity level with Canada’s Physical Activity Guide?

ADVISE The Client about the Need for Physical Activity:

Suggestions:

• Active living reduces the risks for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.
• If exercise were a drug, it would be the most prescribed drug in the world!
• Research now shows as much as half the decline between ages 30 and 70 is due to inactivity, not the aging process.
• Physical inactivity is as dangerous to your health as smoking.
• Turn to Physical Activity for additional points you may wish to advise clients about.

Click on the appropriate stage below for examples of what the health professional might say to clients. These are suggestions to stimulate your thinking about what you want to say to that particular client.