Creating a new healthy normal

ELIZABETHTOWN – Walk-With-A-Doc, the new program meant to educate the community on medical matters and to encourage physical fitness entered into the autumn season with another warm and sunny day to gather and walk together at Wallace Leinwand Park.

The gathering includes members from the members of the medical community and the general public from Bladen County. The group meets on the first Friday of each month from noon – 1:15 p.m. which is perfect to create a lunchtime habit of exercise and fellowship.

This month, special speaker from Cape Fear Valley Health, a registered dietician, Darcy Mundell who came to share some tips that were perfect heading into a holiday season where health is not put at the top of the food chain, so to speak.

Her topic that Mundell gave out as an hors d’oeuvre to the daily walk was entitled, “Eating right to eat healthy.”

“Things I have learned in my life as a registered dietician have come down to three key components,” she said. “It is about what you eat, it’s about how much you eat and it’s also about doing some form of activity. There’s not a secret out there, there’s not a quick fix. You’ll see every fad diet and you can try them all – but there isn’t a quick fix to our health.”

Mundell offered tips on nutrition and noted “consistency” as a rule to live by. She also stressed that a change in diet or lifestyle can’t be for a week or a month, but to find your true north as far as your health, you have to find a lifestyle that you will step into for the rest of your life.

She offered handouts and described the “plate method” and called it, “Eat Right with MyPlate.” (MyPlate.gov) and also offered other websites for additional eating tips at: eatright.org and kidseatright.org.

“It’s something to work toward,” she said. “But half of our plate should be fruits and vegetables. There’s a lot of nutrition in that in terms of vitamins, minerals and fiber. They help fill you up so if you’re trying to lose weight, fruits and vegetables are your friends. They are going to help you feel full whereas other foods are not going to do that for you. A quarter of your plate should be protein – and this is something that is very challenging.”

Mundell went on to dispel a myth about the evils of carbohydrates and dairy and said that in moderation it could help to create the perfect diet.

The walk brought out the greatest turnout to date and this grassroots push for a healthy Bladen County is well on its way to becoming a standard for other medical systems in the state of North Carolina.

Walk with a Doc is an international nonprofit organization started by Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist in Columbus, Ohio. In 2005 Dr. Sabgir invited 100 patients and community members to go for a walk with him in a local park. Since that successful day, the movement has spread around the globe and now hundreds of communities are enjoying the countless benefits of walking with their health care providers on an ongoing basis.

That movement has come to Bladen County, brought by Dr. Olajumoke Ladapo who is a physician at Bladen Medical Associates in Elizabethtown and supported by Cape Fear Valley Bladen Hospital CEO Spencer Cummings and Jonas Woodruff Regional Director of Physician Practices at Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital.

“Dr. Ladapo was concerned about healthy patients,” Woodruff said. “Not just seeing sick patients, but creating a program where she could walk with her patients prior to ever getting sick. So, she got acclimated to a program called ‘Walk with a Doc,” and she explained to me the program. I would like to do it and help by walking with patients. We have now officially started this program. Two weeks ago we did our first session and are excited as to where this program could go and how this program could affect the community in a positive way. Hopefully we can bring it to a place where we can do things like bring fresh fruit on the day that we’re there for those who don’t have access to that.”

According to Ladapo, this is not only an opportunity for those who want more face time with their doctor, but a chance for other organizations to partner with the program to bring in food, ideas and tips for those who need to maintain a healthy regiment.

“This is not just for doctors,” Ladapo said. “It can also be for providers, nurses, health care students – or you have any interest in developing a healthy community. Others may want to sign up and have a franchise in their community.”

Ladapo reached out to the Dr. Sabgir and his nonprofit and expressed interest in bringing the program to Bladen County.

“I told him about the desire to have a franchise here for our clinic,” she said. “And that’s how it started. This program has been successful for over 20 years and I saw the benefits in it. This is truly an opportunity where the health care provider once a month or twice a month talks to some of their colleagues and you can organize your patients in the community outside of the hospital or the clinic and you have a walk to just enjoy outdoors – getting the benefit of exercise.”

Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Health has been a cutting-edge top of the line health care facility in a rural community with things such as their open MRI center, a helicopter on their own helipad and the reach to many other rural communities with clinics in Bladen County.

“It not only provides a closer proximity to the care providers, but it also brings the community together,” she said. “We could invite other health care providers or health services around the community to come and talk to the patients as well.”

And the good news is that no insurance is required.

The next scheduled walk is set for Dec. 5 at noon at Leinwand Park. Dress accordingly.