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Keeping active is essential to living a long, healthy life. Andrew Morgan, PT, DPT, MBA, COS-C at Homecare Dimensions, shares ways to stay moving and grooving as an older adult.
Aug. 28, 2024
Podcast transcript
INTROWelcome to Docs in a Pod, presented by WellMed. Over the next half-hour, Docs in a Pod will educate you about the health and wellness of adults everywhere. Co-hosts Dr. Tamika Perry, and award winning veteran broadcaster Ron Aaron, will share information to improve your health and wellbeing. And now here are Ron Aaron and Dr. Tamika Perry.
RON AARON
We are so pleased you are with us today on the award winning Docs in a Pod. I'm Ron Aaron. Our program is available on the radio in a number of markets in Texas and Florida and the award winning Docs in a Pod podcast is available wherever you get your podcast. Now, if you happen to be an older adult, or you happen to be someone who knows or lives with an older adult, maybe a grandpa, an aunt, an uncle, we've got some great information coming for you today. Mobility in older adults, and Dr. Andrew Morgan will be joining us. He has a doctorate in physical therapy, a MBA, and all kinds of credentials that will make him the right one to join us. Dr. Morgan is a physical therapist, with more than 20 years of clinical experience. Earned his Bachelor of Science in education, Baylor University, and his master's in doctorate degrees in physical therapy from UT Health San Antonio. Andrew also holds a Master of Business Administration from UT San Antonio. He works for home care dimensions and serves as the WellMed and United Healthcare Group Corporate Umbrella as the alternate administrator over Texas and the Director of Therapy Services for Texas and Florida. There's a whole lot more stuff. He did run a successful fundraising campaign in 2022. He was the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's South Texas Man of the Year. Which means he was able to raise a ton of money for leukemia and all kinds of issues involved in leukemia and lymphoma. Dr. Morgan, it is great to have you on again.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Thank you, Ron. I appreciate that. I do have to correct one thing. I am the reigning Man of the Year because they have changed the title. So, I can forever say I am the reigning Man of the Year.
RON AARON
It's like always once a Miss America, always a Miss America.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Something like that. They actually changed it. LLS now call it the Visionaries of the Year. They're not doing the man and women of the year so I can forever say I'm the reigning Man of the Year.
RON AARON
I like that. Well, congratulations, reigning Man of the Year. This picks up a little bit about what we talked about a week or so ago with Dr. Anthony Gallegos. Diet and exercise are critical to health and wellness. And yet for many young, old, whoever, the question of mobility and exercise is one that not enough people deal with. You happen to be talking to us today right after going to the gym. Have you made that a habit for yourself?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
It's been a part of my life for so long. I was involved in youth sports. I played youth soccer. I became a competitive swimmer. I did that for nine years and then I switched over and started running track and cross country and got pretty fast and was able to compete at the collegiate level. It's just such an important part of my life and it's one of the, I don't even want to call it a secret, but one of the keys to longevity. Not just a long life, but a long quality of life.
RON AARON
Well, many of us can see you engaging in track and field because you're an official for Midland High School football. What always amazes me, Andrew, is that you're watching a football game. Fullback breaks through the middle of the line. Not a single defensive player near him. He's running alone down the sidelines, except the official is with him. How do you do that?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Well, first, the important thing is to get out of the way and make sure you don't get hit as a line judge, but I'll let you in on a little secret. We do hand off to each other because there's seven of us out there on the field. So, if I'm working the line then the deep wing is going to see what's happening, then he picks it up. So, there is teamwork there.
RON AARON
So, for a hundred-yard touchdown, you're not running the 100 yards with that player?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Not at the varsity level. If its sub-varsity, sometimes I am running. I'll brag on myself a little bit. Every now and then I do get some comments from the sidelines like Hey, you're moving fast out there.
RON AARON
For an old guy.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Yeah, for an old guy. I mean, compared to those guys, yes, I am old.
RON AARON
You're no longer involved in competitive sports, I gather. How did you instill that commitment to exercise?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Again, it just became part of my life, and I don't feel right when I'm not doing it. I do still compete in triathlons. I'm not as fast as I used to be, but I do still get out there. I try to do a couple of them a year. It just gives me something to be working toward. Looking at older adults, sister Madonna Bruder is in her nineties and still doing triathlons.
RON AARON
Wow. Stay with me for a minute. For those who just joined us, you're listening to the award winning Docs in a Pod. I'm Ron Aaron along with our very special guest today, Dr. Andrew Morgan. Dr. Audrey Baria, our co-host on special assignment today. We're talking with Andrew about mobility among seniors and others. Triathlon, run, swim, bike. It takes a real commitment and it's something you're continuing to do twice a year, you said.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
I do them a couple of times a year. I like doing the shorter distances. If you're going to train for an Iron Man, that's a whole different level of commitment. For me, if I don't exercise, I don't feel right. I feel sluggish. I feel tired. When you exercise, the brain is getting oxygenated. I feel invigorated and like I said, it's just part of my life.
RON AARON
What I'd like from you, Dr. Morgan is the, the 411 to somebody who's listening or wants to share with someone, how do you begin that exercise program when maybe you've been a couch potato for the last 40 years?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
I do think that's a big part of it. I think there's definitely a generational thing. The key is you start with the first step. You don't start, You know what? I haven't done anything in 40 years. I'm going to go do a triathlon today.
RON AARON
And then you die.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Well, even if you don't die, if you go and you try to do too much, what happens is you become very, very sore. And then that can be discouraging. If it starts with just getting out and taking a walk around the neighborhood. Or going to Walmart and rather than getting in the electric cart, you use the, the shopping cart and you walk the aisles. Something, to take that first step and you build from there.
RON AARON
I have a friend, Dr. Don Lucas, who's a professor at San Antonio College here in San Antonio, Texas, who every month or so adopts a new exercise or mental routine. He at one point committed to walking the aisle in every single major chain grocery store in San Antonio, and there are literally a hundred or more stores, and he did that every aisle in every store.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Thats a great start for a lot of the listeners, but you have to be committed to it. When I'm working with a patient, I'll tell them, you have your kidney doctor, you have your heart doctor. I'm your muscle doctor. That's what I'm here for. If you're going to take your pills in the morning for your blood pressure, you need to take your pills for your muscles and go ahead and do some exercise.
RON AARON
Do you recommend that they get a trainer to start it off or can you do it on your own?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
A lot of it just depends on the individual. Finances are obviously a part of that. If you're going to hire a trainer, certainly working with one, at a local gym. A lot of the WellMed patient population has access to something like Silver Sneakers or even the local senior center. Those are all options where the equipment is there, personnel is there. I'm going to reemphasize this; it's just taking that first step.
RON AARON
Now, for those who don't know Silver Snakes is a program some insurance policies pay for under health care, and it gives you a membership to a gym at no cost, which is certainly a great way to begin. As you were saying, Dr. Morgan, you can grab a cart and walk through Walmart. You can go to any air-conditioned shopping mall. People who say it's too hot to walk, well, go to a mall and walk in a mall.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Absolutely. We're recording from San Antonio and if you were to go to North Star Mall first thing in the morning, I can assure you there's a whole group of mall walkers getting their steps in. And a wide age range that is there.
RON AARON
You mentioned walking and getting your steps in of all the things you can think about, you're a runner, but is walking a great form of exercise?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Walking is an excellent form of exercise. Running isn't going to be for everybody. That's more high impact. It can cause some issues with joints, but walking doesn't do that. The big thing is it needs to be something that you enjoy. If walking is not something that you enjoy, find a swimming pool. Maybe you enjoy that. But if you enjoy it, you're going to be more committed to it.
RON AARON
Now, as someone involved in triathlon, you do water, you do bike, you do running. What about bikes, either stationery or mobile bikes?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Either one of those are great options. Again, I want to emphasize this for the listeners out there. I don't care if you're 54 or 84, this is all stuff that you can do. Age is a number. Older adults are staying active and doing more and more of these types of activities into later life.
RON AARON
Your recommendation on getting it started one step at a time, start with that first step. We're going to come back to you, Dr. Morgan. If you just joined us, this is the award winning Docs in a Pod. I'm Ron Aaron, along with our special guest, Dr. Andrew Morgan. We're talking about mobility and seniors, but it applies to people, whatever your age may be. You're listening to Docs in a Pod.
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RON AARON
Thank you so much for sticking with us right here on the award winning Docs in a pod. Our podcast available wherever you get your podcast. We're on the radio as well in markets in Texas and Florida. Our special guest today, Dr. Andrew Morgan. I'm Ron Aaron. We're talking about seniors and mobility and what a difference it can make as you get older. Andrew, I mentioned earlier it applies to people of any age. Our kids, for example, in middle school all participate in physical education. It's a requirement and it should be, right?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
I 100% agree. Honestly, I'd love to see it be more of a requirement. Just to be combating obesity in the younger kids. If it becomes a habit early in life, it's going to continue to be a habit later in life. That's good habits as well as bad habits.
RON AARON
Now, we've talked with you before about what you do as a physical therapist, but for those who haven't been with us on those programs, share with folks how you're involved as a physical therapist and how that leads to discussions of mobility.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
What we are experts in is normal human movement. We're trying to restore normal human movement. That's going to be looking at the muscular skeletal system, which is going to wind up getting into strength training and rebuilding muscle so that you can participate in what I call the Geriatric Olympics.
RON AARON
The Geriatric Olympics. I like that.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
The older we get, and I include myself in this, I used to take for granted the ability to sleep through the night and not have to go to the bathroom. That's a thing that becomes a real event. If you think about an Olympic event like the hundred-yard dash, I'm willing to bet that a geriatric person trying to get into the bathroom on time in the middle of the night, they might be able to compete with Noah Lyles right now.
RON AARON
I want to come back to the dangers of waking up in the middle of the night to get to the bathroom. Falls are very often a problem, especially if you've got a dark animal like a cat or a dog on the floor. You don't see him, you trip, you fall, you break a leg or a hip.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Well, yes, but that's where exercise becomes important. The issue is not having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. The issue is you haven't trained for that. I use the word training, since again, we're talking about mobility and exercise. If you've trained for it, then guess what? Your body can do it. You can get up you have the strength to walk to the bathroom. Vision does tend to become a problem as we get older, so nightlights are an important thing. But if you've trained your body for it, then walking to the bathroom is not that big of a deal in the middle of the night.
RON AARON
One of the issues I know you deal with as a physical therapist is the challenge that many, especially older people, have with balance and falls.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Yes. I really want to dispel a common myth. Falling is not a normal part of aging. That is stating that there's some sort of a problem that has occurred. If it's a balance issue, there could be something with the inner ear that's going on, or it could be something that's a muscle weakness somewhere that's a problem.
RON AARON
Wow. Falling is not a normal part of aging, falling is a frequent occurrence for those who are aging.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
That is correct. Again, that's where exercise is a big thing. If you exercise, your muscles are strong. You're less likely to fall. If you do fall, you're less likely to get injured. If you do get injured, you're going to recover faster the better condition that your body's in. So, I see this as a win, win. No matter what, there's benefits to exercising.
RON AARON
Can you teach people to fall? I know for a while, my 12-year-old daughter was taking lessons in hockey and one of the first things they teach them is how to fall.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Yes, you can. It's not generally something that I do with older adults. As a rule, if you start to lose your balance, protect your head and try to fall on your keister, your derriere. Thats going to have the majority of the padding, muscle and adipose tissue that's actually going to protect you. Don't allow your head to hit. That's the number one thing to protect. A lot of times, just instinctively, we're going to stick our hand out. I've seen a number of issues where people wind up with fractured shoulders, fractured wrists, as a result of trying to stick that arm out to protect themselves.
RON AARON
My mother, when she was alive, tripped in front of her house and broke both her wrists trying to break her fall.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Just as a general rule, the backside has got more padding. Not saying it's a perfect thing, but that's got the most padding.
RON AARON
So many folks who fall break a hip. Why is that?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
We don't know this for sure, but I think it's a common misconception that you fall and break a hip. More likely you break the hip and then you fall. When I start to talk to individuals that have had this happen, what I generally find is that there is some sort of a twisting motion that started to occur before the fall. There's a portion of the hip that doesn't have very much blood flow going to it and if you combine that with a twisting motion and age-related bone density issues, that twisting with the poor bone density leads to that fracture. When the fracture occurs, that's what causes the fall.
RON AARON
That may be where that song came from, Twist and Shout.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Something like that, yeah.
RON AARON
As a physical therapist, when you are seeing more patients, you do an assessment. What are you looking for at that first visit that may lead to recommendations on mobility?
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Obviously, every individual is different, but as a rule, I want to see how an individual gets in and out of his or her bed, gets on and off a chair, the toilet, the bathtub. What I'm doing is I'm watching to see how they manage all of these different things. How they're walking, moving from one room to another. That gives me a good overall snapshot. As a therapist, what I'm really focused on isn't just, okay, you're getting through this. I'm looking at safety and how they're doing it. I'm really paying attention to the quality of movement because that's going to tell me where there's potential problems.
RON AARON
Do you then put yourself in a position to recommend, for example, grab bars? If you have trouble getting up off the toilet, for example, or out of a bathtub, a grab bar may be the answer.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Grab bars are good things. I always start with, Let's try to let's find the muscle that's weak and try to strengthen it. One of the things that I have found, and I especially saw this during COVID, is when we modify the entire house, what winds up happening is we wind up restricting a person to the house because the rest of the community doesn't have all of this equipment that you may have in your house. But if you are mobile and you have strengthened the muscles in your hips and your legs, then guess what? You can get on and off that chair and you can go to the local restaurant that you want to go to and have no problem getting up and down from that chair.
RON AARON
That's an interesting point, Andrew. I hadn't heard that made before. When you turn the house into essentially wrapping you in the bubble wrap of the rest of the world, it's a bigger threat.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
I think it is all well-intentioned, but this is what the end result is. I really saw that during COVID when everyone was locked down. What the end result was, what we did. So, this has been a thing that I've been educating other therapists, like, before you jump to modifying the environment, let's really look at the quality of movement and try to fix the problem.
RON AARON
Maybe core strengthening yourself might be better than a grab bar.
Yes, my first approach is going to be core strengthening. Not saying don't do the grab bars, but don't become dependent on them.
DR. ANDREW MORGAN
Well, we're going to end on that note. I really do appreciate you being with us, Dr. Andrew Morgan. By the way, he's an award winning cook as well. Won on an episode of Food Network's Cooks and Cons. Always a pleasure to talk with you, Dr. Andrew Morgan. We'll do it again soon. I'm Ron Aaron. Thanks for joining us on the award winning Docs in a Pod.
OUTRO
Executive producer for Docs in a Pod is Dan Calderon. The producer is Cherese Pendleton. Thank you for listening to Docs in a Pod presented by WellMed. We welcome your emails with suggestions and comments on this program at radio@wellmed.net. Be sure and listen next week to Docs in a Pod presented by WellMed.
DISCLAIMER
This transcript is generated using a podcast editing tool; there may be small differences between this transcript and the recorded audio content.
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