The Gift of Good Health

Sydney Adventist Hospital staff launch fitness initiative focused on whole-person health.

November 28, 2o22 | Sydney, Australia | Maddi Glover, Adventist Record

Sydney Adventist Hospital (San) and ELIA Wellness have launched ELIA Fitness for all hospital staff as part of the Adventist HealthCare Limited (AHCL) commitment to whole-person health.

In celebration of the launch, AHCL held a group workout for all staff on the front lawn of Sydney Adventist Hospital on November 16, 2022. The workout was run by ELIA Fitness personal trainer and former professional footballer Todd Brodie. Around 100 staff members gathered on the front lawn, with some even wearing fancy dress for the occasion.

Group workouts on the front lawn are not a new activity for the San, having wellness embedded into the hospital’s ethos since it opened in 1903. Groups of nurses in the 1920s would gather on the front lawn each day for their physical culture calisthenics session — a light workout that would be performed prior to starting their workday.

ELIA Wellness executive director Geraldine Przybylko, who was part of the ELIA Fitness development team, said the goal is to make it easy for people to exercise anywhere and anytime. “ELIA Wellness aims to make fitness easy with our motto ‘fitness simplified’,” she said. “We know that exercise benefits people not just physically but in terms of mental health too. ELIA Fitness is a great way to support Adventist HealthCare staff to feel their best so that they can give their best care.”

ELIA worked with Brodie and his team of athletes and personal trainers to develop up to 150 workouts to suit all ages and different intensity levels. The ELIA Fitness “Movement and Mobility” workouts are perfect for those aged over 65 and for those looking to start their fitness journey with low-intensity exercise. Workouts for all levels are easily accessed via the ELIA Wellness app and can be held alone or in a group. Built-in fitness analytics encourage users to exercise at least six times a week and to track their progress.

ELIA Wellness is the sister organization to San, and develops and promotes lifestyle-based resources to educate and empower individuals and communities to achieve whole-person health. The organization’s online and face-to-face products and services offer members access to a range of different educational programs and plans aimed at improving health outcomes for all, with better lifestyle choices.

ELIA’s whole-person philosophy in achieving optimal health is based on the seven dimensions of wellness in the areas of emotional, physical, social, vocational, spiritual, intellectual, and environmental.

“Human beings are designed to thrive, and positive lifestyle choices can act as preventative medicine or improve wellness if ill,” Przybylko said. “The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has identified that an alarming 55 per cent of adults did not participate in sufficient physical activity, yet we know that exercise is associated with significant health benefits.

“Whole-person health is the foundation of ELIA’s evidence-based lifestyle medicine programs, which complement conventional medicine to help the community achieve health, healing and hope.”

ELIA Fitness is available online or by downloading the ELIA Wellness app.

The original version of this story was posted by Adventist Record.