2013 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 53-57
The objective of this report is to clarify the importance of cooperation between hospitals and sports gyms. As a result of the rapidly aging society in Japan, considerable emphasis has been recently given to extending healthy life-span. On the other hand, Japanese people tend not to pay attention to preventive measures, and due to the protection offered by universal health insurance coverage, are passive regarding therapy for conditions such as knee osteoarthritis (KOA). In August 2011, we launched a team to provide total support for KOA (team TS-KOA) with the aim of achieving active participation of patients in therapy for this disorder. The team consists of orthopedic surgeons, nurses, nutritionists, radiologists, and physical educators from an adjacent sports gym. First, we prepared simple and easy referral forms to the gym, and then established a correspondence procedure using the e-mail function in the electronic health record system. The exercise protocol for KOA at the gym was decided not only by doctors but also by a physical therapist and physical educators at the gym. Following the start of this program by team TS-KOA, the number of patients introduced to the gym from the hospital increased from 71 to 209 patients per year. However, several steps remain to be solved；for instance patients cannot use the gym during their hospital stay because treatment covered partially by insurance is not allowed in Japan. It is therefore necessary to gather data on the efficacy of TS-KOA in order to create a legal environment for cooperation with sports gyms.
