Inaugural Wits Sport and Health Congress to be held in March
- Tshepiso Mametela
Wits University’s Faculty of Health Sciences hosts the first Wits Sport and Health (WiSH) Congress
Featuring 3 high profile overseas speakers, Prof Jonathan Drezner (USA), Dr Jane Thornton (Canada) and Dr Joanne Thornton (Australia) as well as leading exercise and sports medicine experts from Wits and South Africa, the conference will be held at the Hilton in Sandton, Johannesburg, from 11 to 13 March.
Led by WiSH director and professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Jon Patricios, healthcare professionals, including doctors, physios, biokineticists, podiatrists and chiropractors from across the region, are invited to participate in informative, engaging plenary sessions.
Patricios emphasised the importance of physical activity in health. “Despite many pharmacological and surgical advances, exercise as an intervention remains the most powerful tool in disease prevention. Inherently, sport is one of the most effective ways of building social cohesion,”
“But one of the areas the Faculty of Health Sciences has not fully explored is that of sports medicine and exercise science. Johannesburg has a flourishing sports medicine fraternity, many recognised pockets of excellence in injury management, among others, but little in terms of a cohesive network and academic training programmes.”
As one of the central themes of the discussions, Patricios and colleagues will explore the role of SEM in shaping the lives of athletes and communities in the 必博娱乐,比博娱乐网址 era.
The research group recently published a paper, entitled Small steps, strong shield: Directly measured, moderate physical activity in 65 361 adults is associated with significant protective effects from severe 必博娱乐,比博娱乐网址 outcomes, which shows that regular physical activity protects against adverse outcomes of the virus.
The study aimed to determine the association between directly measured physical activity and hospital admissions, ventilation and mortality rates in patients with a confirmed 必博娱乐,比博娱乐网址 diagnosis. The study found that adults with high and moderate physical activity levels had significantly better outcomes than those with low activity when contracting the virus.
In his opinion, Patricios said sports medicine has positively impacted how high-performance teams and athletes approach their discipline. “SEM has had a huge impact over the last two decades, including injury prevention, optimising performance, better diagnosis and a greater range of interventions for management,” said Patricios.
There will be talks and workshops on a range of sports injuries and musculoskeletal conditions.
The programme will also showcase contributions from SEM physician Phatokuhle Zondi, physiotherapy clinician Megyn Robertson and biokineticist Jannie Klingbiel as part of a wide pool of experts.