June 10, 2008
First exercise hotline set up for those with spinal cord injuries
Hamilton, ON – You’re confined to a wheelchair with a spinal cord injury, and you want to get some physical activity into your life. But who to go to for advice?
Get in Motion, a free Canada-wide physical activity tele-counseling service, is being launched to give people information and ongoing telephone support. It is the first telephone service of its kind.
More than 50,000 people in Canada are living with a spinal cord injury.
“It doesn’t matter whether the person is inactive, somewhat active, or very active,” says Kathleen Martin Ginis, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University, and director of Get in Motion. “The counseling sessions are created to meet individual needs.”
Martin Ginis says typical calls would provide information about the safety and benefits of physical activity, overcoming barriers to physical activity, finding accessible physical activities in the community, or goal setting.
Counsellors cannot give medical advice or specific exercise prescriptions, says Martin Ginis, but they can help find someone who is qualified to do so.
Get in Motion’s toll-free help line is 1-866-678-1966. It is operated from McMaster’s Department of Kinesiology, and supported by the SCI Translational Research Network in partnership with the Rick Hansen Foundation.
More information about the service can be obtained by emailing motion@mcmaster.ca
McMaster University, a world-renowned, research-intensive university, fosters a culture of innovation, and a commitment to discovery and learning in teaching, research and scholarship. Based in Hamilton, the University, one of only four Canadian universities to be listed on the Top 100 universities in the world, has a student population of more than 23,000, and an alumni population of more than 131,000 in 128 countries.
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For more information, please contact:
Maureen MacDonald
Department of Kinesiology
McMaster University
905-525-9140, ext. 23580
Michelle Donovan
Public Relations Manager: Broadcast Media
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 22869