At Central Performance we believe that clients in the 21st century are looking for a new model of health & fitness. In our view the line between “rehab” & “fitness” is blurred if not fully broken down. Our goal is to allow our clients to progress seamlessly from acute injury management right through to exercise for life-long fitness & sports performance, all guided by an expert team within one great location.
We find that our clients expect much more than just short-term symptom relief. Of course fast pain relief is still a crucial first step, but these days people want (& deserve) much more. They also want to know what implications their current problem has for their future health, & what they can do to prevent future injuries. Many people also want to know about options to improve their overall health & wellbeing, & for some they are looking for programs to improve their sports performance. Meeting these expectations requires a multi-disciplinary approach that focuses on each individual’s goals, lifestyle, history, exercise preferences & sporting aspirations.
These expanded needs & expectations demand a much broader view of “healthcare”. The line between injury rehabilitation & physical fitness is now very blurred, meaning that treating an injury is only the first stage in the “rehab” process. Once the pain is settled, what then? Should clients just be discharged back to their pre-injury lifestyle, bearing in mind that for most injuries the client’s pre-injury lifestyle was a big contributing factor to their injury! Think back pain in sedentary desk workers, hamstring tears for weekend-warriors who don’t get a chance to exercise during the week, OA knee pain in overweight individuals.
If a client’s “rehab” stops when their current pain episode settles down, we believe they’re just setting themselves up for more problems. These days most people realise this & are looking for a different approach, however they often don’t quite know how to go about fixing the situation. Central Performance now provides you with an effective & convenient solution, with a team of experts all working together in a single location.
OLD MUSCULOSKELETAL MODEL – Triage Care
In this model musculoskeletal services had a short-term focus on the diagnosis & relief from a specific episode of pain or injury, eg an episode of back pain or an ankle sprain. Once this episode was relieved patients were discharged, usually with some exercises to keep going with (which we all know almost no-one actually did!) & advised to make some lifestyle changes.
Working with this model there was almost an assumption of “I’ll see you next time something goes wrong” – whether it was the same problem recurring or something new.
Essentially, this paradigm focused on treating pain & then returning people back to their pre-injury lifestyle & level of function. But they became symptomatic in their pre-injury level of function, so if they just return to this level the chances of them becoming symptomatic again are very high.
The solution? People often find it hard to improve their overall health & fitness by implementing lasting lifestyle changes, but our new model of care at Central Performance is having great success in removing the physical, social & psychological barriers to make it much easier.
Old Model → New Model
Triage & symptom relief → Effective short term & long-term management
Isolated injury focus → Whole-body health & fitness management
One or two main providers → Team approach; an expert in each area
THE NEW MUSCULOSKELETAL MODEL OF CARE: Patient-Centred Pain to Performance Model
When seen graphically in the pathway chart below it is easy to see that the “rehab” phase, i.e. the symptom relief phase, is just the start of our client’s patient’s path to sustained better health. In fact injury management & performance improvement are really just opposite ends of the same spectrum. There is no true dividing line between when exercise for rehab finishes & exercise for performance improvement begins.
It is crucial to note that our definition of “Performance” is completely individual. For one person performance may mean being able to play with the kids in the back yard, for another it may be elite sport. For some it may be staying mobile enough to keep living independently, for others it may be using exercise to combat depression. A desk worker may define performance as being able to do long hours without neck pain, another may define it as recovering from ACL reconstruction to return to the rugby field. Whatever each client’s definition of performance is, our services focus squarely on helping them achieve it.
It is also important to see that given the much broader scope of healthcare this model encompasses, it is impossible for one provider to be an expert in all areas. This is critical to the Central Performance care philosophy which states that:
At Central Performance we bring together a team of experts in each area of your program, all combining & working together in one convenient location.
The ability to provide all these services at one location is important because it removes many barriers that often hold people back. Convenience & time-efficiency are two aspects, but trust & familiarity are really the most important. For example if a client has been receiving physio & is now ready to progress on to more exercise-based management they are always much more comfortable knowing that they can still come to the same familiar place, they know the reception team, & whenever possible we have already introduced them to the person who they will be seeing for the next part of their program. Often there is a period of co-treatment, where clients may still have some physio sessions mixed in with their exercise sessions.
Most importantly we find that our clients will have built trust in their physio, & they know that their physio will have communicated closely with their exercise provider, so they know & trust that this next phase of their program will be at the same high standard as their physio program. This is vital as it greatly increases the number of clients who successfully make the transition from low-level injury-related exercise to exercise for sustained health, fitness & performance.
The same seamless integrated care happens at every stage of each client’s program. We help & support you right from initial recovery through to reaching your goals & making real & lasting improvements in your all-round health, fitness & lifestyle. Our clients have the real confidence of knowing that they will always see the right person at the right time, every step of the way.
For more information on how this new model of health & performance can help you reach your goals please contact us or call the clinic on +61 2 9280 2322.
