tu Wellness Center
About Us
Mission
The Towson University Wellness Center, in conjunction with the St. Joseph Medical Center, shall maintain the highest level of fitness, wellness and cardiac rehabilitation services for the communities it serves (the employees of Towson University and St. Joseph Medical Center, and the participants of the LIFEWORx Cardiac Rehabilitation Program) by continually striving to improve programming quality, comprehensiveness and cost-effectiveness; and fostering successful partnerships with referring physicians, related health professionals, program participants, and their families.
The Wellness Center programs will consistently promote the attainment of the highest level of fitness, health, and disease prevention strategies in the clients served, so as to empower them to achieve a high quality of life and well-being. The Wellness Center programs shall also provide quality educational experiences for Towson University students through observations, practicums, internships and other related practical experiences, so as to prepare them to be highly proficient in their future health profession.
Collaboration with St. Joseph Medical Center
The LIFEWORx Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at the Wellness Center gives both Towson University and St. Joseph Medical Center an opportunity to connect with local residents and "give back" to the greater Towson community. In 2006, the Wellness Center had over 500 participants, accounting for 17,340 visits and over 26,000 exercise training hours for the year.
Student Experience
Towson University seniors majoring in exercise science must complete a practicum class to fulfill their graduation requirements. Over the past few years, students have logged over 700 clinical hours per term in the Towson University Wellness Center. During the course of a term, students receive "hands-on" clinical experience in the Wellness Center to better prepare them for their future career path. Students have the opportunity to learn under the supervision of highly-trained exercise physiologists. Each student must complete a total of 18 hours each term where they learn to take a medical history, risk stratify a patient, conduct a battery of exercise tests, interpret test results, and design an individualized exercise program for their client. Students also have the opportunity to work with a diseased population with many participants having heart disease, diabetes, pulmonary disease, and other co-morbidities.
The Wellness Center also accepts student interns during the academic year. Students are expected to complete a total of 120 hours during the term to hone their clinical skills. Interns have the opportunity to interact with a greater number of participants than they did during their practicum experience and work more closely with the staff. These students also have the opportunity to observe inpatient cardiac rehabilitation, cardiac catheterization and open-heart surgery.
History
In the spring of 1995, St. Joseph Medical Center representatives approached the TU Department of Kinesiology about implementing a Phase III Cardiac Rehabilitation program.With their extremely successful Cardiac Surgery Unit, they were producing more patients than they could handle in their hospital-based, outpatient Phase III Cardiac Program. In the fall of 1995, St. Joseph Medical Center began the Phase III collaboration at TU (which was named LIFEWORx) beginning with 32 participants in 12 hours of exercise sessions per week.
In the spring of 1997, TU and SJMC collaborated in the implementation of another joint wellness venture, a Faculty/Staff Wellness Program. This program, open to employees of both institutions, began with 40 participants in 1997. Both programs have grown considerably over the past several years. The LIFEWORx membership is now nearly 350 participants, and the Faculty/Staff Wellness Program serves nearly 300 participants. The Wellness Center's hours expanded to 65 hours per week. The program has been extremely successful thanks to a caring, knowledgeable and dedicated staff from Towson University and SJMC's Heart Institute.
The TU/SJMC LIFEWORXx and Faculty/Staff Wellness Programs are an innovative example of institutional collaboration that may be instrumental in reducing the risks of lifestyle-associated diseases in the communities they serve. The success of these programs is most likely due to the unique relationship between TU and SJMC wherein shared resources and staffing contribute to efficiency and comprehensiveness of operation.
The Wellness Center was licensed in 2003 by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. TU and SJMC are presently in the process of exploring other collaborative opportunities to promote health and wellness in their respective institutions and in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
Towson University Wellness Center
Administration Building, Room 113 (map)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 6:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. (closed from 2-3:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
Saturday 8 a.m. - noon
Phone: 410-704-4555
Fax: 410-704-8321
E-mail: wforbes@towson.edu
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