Dr. Mitchell uses two sites for her
walks: a four-mile city park trail and a junior college practice field with a one-third-mile track. Depending on the topic and the weather, she says, her walks average about 30 partici- pants each, with as many as 80. The pre-walk talks don’t necessar-
ily have to be about serious medical topics or life-threatening conditions. One local plastic surgeon, Dr. Mitchell says, spoke at a Tyler walk about new advances in breast augmentation and brought silicone implants to show the participants. “It’s been refreshing to the partici-
pants to be able to talk to the doctor,” Dr. Mitchell said. “They’re in their shorts and tennis shoes, and they’re not intimidating. Participants can ask all the questions they might be too shy to ask in the exam room.” A frequent participant in the Tyler
outings, Becky Bonilla, says not only do the participants feel more com- fortable interacting with the doctor outside of a care setting, but also the physicians seem more at ease. “You’re not there sitting with them
alone; you’ve got a whole group with you,” Ms. Bonilla said. “There’s more support, and they seem more relaxed to answer your questions because they’re not having to worry about go- ing to the next patient. So they take more time to answer your questions than if you have an appointment with them. If they have another patient, they can only give you so much time.” Dr. McLeod’s Thursday walks in
Cuero draw between 15 and 30 par- ticipants. He says with that less-struc- tured time and no pressure to move on to the next patient, physicians have more time to hear about each patient’s life on a personal level. “Sometimes it’s joys and things that
have happened in their life; some- times it’s some struggles they’ve been having,” he said. “And [doing it] while exercising generally helps the brain flow a little better.” Positive peer pressure is another way Walk With a Doc can encourage
November 2015 TEXAS MEDICINE 45
POLLING PARTICIPANTS
TMA polled about 170 Walk With a Doc Texas participants and 12 physician program leaders in the first phase of its 2015 survey. TMA will send out the follow-up portion of the survey in December. The results from phase one showed:
• Forty-eight percent of participants and 58 percent of lead- ers are meeting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for weekly physical activity by walking 150 minutes or running for 75 minutes.
• Ninety-four percent of participants said they were likely to contact their doctor before a problem worsened, with 53 percent saying they were “very likely” to do so.
• Twenty-five percent of participants said they attended the walks to maintain and improve their health; 18 percent said they did it to spend time outside; 16 percent did so because the walks were nearby and convenient; and 15 percent participated for community involvement.
• Eighty-four percent of leaders are likely to refer their patients to walk.
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