Wellness Aging Model Related to Inactivity, Illness, and Injury (WAMI-3): A Tool to Encourage Prevention in Practice

Abstract

Physical therapists (PTs) are called to action to transform society as described in the American Physical Therapy Association's Vision Statement "by optimizing movement to improve the human experience." 1 With the emphasis on evidence-based practice and the exponential increase in knowledge available to physical therapists and physical therapist assistants (PT(A)s), there is a need for a simple, efficient way to make evidence-based practice the standard of care. The Wellness Aging Model related to Inactivity, Illness, and Injury (WAMI-3) is a simple visual tool for patient education, which addresses the importance of physical activity (PA) and exercise for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The WAMI-3 has the potential to serve as a catalyst to incorporate prevention in practice and, through increased PA levels, improve the trajectory of the deleterious effects of inactivity, illness, injury, and suboptimal aging.Although PT(A)s are uniquely positioned to educate patients and prescribe interventions to facilitate health transformation, preventive practice unfortunately is not routine. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of patient interview and education on the importance of PA and exercise.

Invited Clinical Commentary On: Wellness Aging Model Related to Inactivity, Illness, and Injury (WAMI-3): A Tool to Encourage Prevention in Practice

“…The medical model in our health care system trends toward “sick care” versus “health care.” As health care professionals and experts in human movement science, physical therapists (PTs) and physical therapist assistants (PTAs) are called to action to enlist a culture of change focusing on primary prevention of chronic disease. The authors of this study, Billek-Sawhney et al,4 have proposed an excellent tool, the Wellness Aging Model Related to Inactivity, Illness, and Injury (WAMI-3), a patient education tool, which can be easily translated into clinical practice to educate the adult population (young and old) about the benefits of physical activity and the positive impact it has on illness prevention and aging successfully.…”