A New Home for the Best Health and Wellness Program
Accessible Fitness Classes Open for Registration
It’s Wednesday afternoon in the Best Health Suite at Shepherd Center. A playlist shuffles through Beyoncé, 50 Cent, and Usher. And Alexandra “Allie” Juarez, EP, RYT-200 HR certified yoga instructor, and Patrick Jones are getting in a workout.
Allie leads the Best Health and Wellness Program’s weekly adaptive strength training course. One of three weekly in-person offerings from the Best Health and Wellness Program, the strength class is open to patients and community members, providing access to professional fitness and health and wellness support in a fully accessible setting.
Since sustaining a spinal cord injury in 2017, Patrick has completed a variety of rehabilitation programs at Shepherd Center and beyond: inpatient therapy, the Spinal Cord Injury Day Program, Beyond Therapy®, and rehab at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Augusta, Georgia. He discovered the Best Health and Wellness Program’s class listings online and has made them part of his routine.
“Even [with my background as a trainer], a lot of stuff Allie shows me makes me go, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that,’” says Patrick, who was an avid runner and personal trainer prior to his injury. “The classes are fun, and I enjoy it. And I learn something new every time.”
The program also offers weekly inpatient classes. These classes are offered in-person as well as pre-recorded and can be streamed anytime, anywhere around the hospital. Marina Moldavskiy, ACRP-CP, Shepherd’s tele-wellness program manager and exercise physiologist, says this allows patients across injury levels and programs to participate in class together. The pre-recorded classes offer another accessibility benefit — subtitles allow patients who are hard of hearing or who don’t speak English to engage in real time, without delays from using an interpreter.
“These classes allow patients with a variety of needs to participate in a real-time fitness class with other patients from around the hospital,” Moldavskiy says. “And because the courses are pre-recorded and available on demand, patients off-site at the SHARE Military Initiative or Shepherd Pathways can also engage. Patients who aren’t able to leave their rooms can engage. Patients can then transition to participating in these classes upon returning home, which is really great!”
Classes recorded through the Best Health and Wellness Program are available on demand via an online platform. Access is free for Shepherd Center patients, ensuring that even once they return home, they have access to high-quality, expert-led classes. Anyone can subscribe to the platform to access the virtual content. For assistance signing up, please email marina.moldavskiy@shepherd.org.
Written by Erin Kenney
With five decades of experience, Shepherd Center provides world-class clinical care, research, and family support for people experiencing the most complex conditions, including spinal cord and brain injuries, multi-trauma, traumatic amputations, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. An elite center ranked by U.S. News as one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation, Shepherd Center is also recognized as both Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. Shepherd Center treats thousands of patients annually with unmatched expertise and unwavering compassion to help them begin again.