Hospitals should provide ‘healthy pleasures’
Hospitals should provide healthy pleasures’
Make getting fit and fighting fat fun
In order to satisfy the demands of the health-conscious baby boom generation, hospitals wanting to compete in the 21st century must provide services that promote optimum vitality for their patients, says Des D. Cummings Jr., PhD, CEO of the development division of Florida Hospital in Orlando.
"They want healthy pleasures — and what better place to offer it than a health care facility?" he says.
For example, at Celebration Health, the all-vegetarian restaurant, Season’s Cafe, offers dishes from the Mediterranean and the Orient, with items from South America, the Caribbean, and Florida to be introduced soon. In one section of the dining room, meals are made to order in the mesquite brick oven and presented on garnished plates.
It’s extremely low fat, but tastes great," says Ron Grange, director of nutrition services. "The whole point is to make getting healthy and staying healthy fun."
There’s also a pizza, wok, pasta, and grille areas which open to the dining room. A large salad bar, a drink station — including specialty coffees and cappuccino — baked goods, and a smoothie center offer additional choices.
"Anyone of any nationality or religion can feel comfortable with the food we serve," says Grange.
Another healthy pleasures is the facility’s fitness center, which includes 60,000 square feet of exercise space for activities that appeal to all ages and all fitness levels (although rehab patients also use portions of the fitness center, non-patients may enroll in a membership.)
Adults can take advantage of the 25-meter, five-lane pool or the therapeutic warm-water pool equipped with an underwater treadmill. Or they can play basketball on a full court, which is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows to give it the feel of an outdoor court. There’s also a room for "spinning" — a challenging workout done on bicycles.
Traditional fitness activities such as treadmills and stair climbers are enhanced by FitLinx, an interactive fitness network that has the ability to record users’ every move, and guide them throughout each step of every workout and track it all back.
"An electronic notebook the size of a credit card fits into the equipment and provides instant information about the level of their last workout as well as what the member’s goal should be," Cummings says.
If the member slacks off, the notebook signals a member of the staff.
Activities geared for children, too
For children, the fitness center offers a "virtual reality" game called Youtopica in which they "become" the joy stick and mouse and "join" the video game. "It’s not like the typical, passive, video game. They jump and move along with the character. It is an exercise that helps them develop skills in speed, strength and agility," he says.
Parents may leave their children in these adult-supervised areas while they work out or go to a doctor’s appointment.
"We often see children tugging on their parents, saying Do we have to leave now?’" says Cumming.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.