In this topic, we focus on the different allied health professionals you may need to work when working with special population clients along with additional physical activity and recreational activity associations available. You will learn:
- Different allied health professionals and their roles
- Sport and fitness organisations and initiatives established in New Zealand.
Terminology and vocabulary reference guide
As an allied health professional, you need to be familiar with terms associated with basic exercise principles and use the terms correctly (and confidently) with clients, your colleagues, and other allied health professionals. You will be introduced to many terms and definitions. Add any unfamiliar terms to your own vocabulary reference guide.
Activities
There are activities throughout the topic and an end of the topic automated quiz. These are not part of your assessment but will provide practical experience that will help you in your work and help you prepare for your formal assessment.
When working with special population clients, a PAR-Q form is used to establish any medical condition which would require referral to another allied health professional (a qualified practitioner who has specialised expertise in diagnosing, preventing and treating a range of illnesses and conditions). As a fitness professional, you have knowledge in identifying when referral may be required, to do this, you have a broad understanding of some of the main conditions you may encounter however you are not qualified to work independently with such clients. Your role is only to assess and prescribe exercise, in conjunction with the support of an allied health practitioner, you are not legally qualified to fill the role of an allied health professional, this extends to activities such as providing nutritional, counselling or psychology support. Remember you must only within your scope of practice.
Let us look into the different allied health professionals and associations in order to gain a better understanding of their role and qualifications in order to support you in determining who, when and where you may refer your clients to.
A doctor is required to hold a medical degree in order to practice. A doctor or general practitioner (GP), provides a wide array of services and is usually the first treating practitioner in a clients health journey, acting as a referral source leading the client to a range of specialists and surgeons.
A doctor will typically:
- Be the first treating practitioner
- Prescribe scripts for various medications/blood tests/x-rays
- Write medical certificates.
A dietician is required to hold a degree and registration, having undergone tertiary study in a relevant line of the industry. They support clients with physical and emotional eating disorders as well another health and diet-related issues. They typically work in conjunction with clinical psychologists when providing medical assistance.
A dietician will typically:
- Oversee nutritionists
- Provide nutritional plans and clinical dietetic plans
- Deal with special populations and eating considerations.
A registered counsellor is required to have undertaken several years of tertiary education and hold current registration. Their role is to provide support and advice on issues that are psychological and or emotional, e.g. depression. Guidance counsellors assist adolescents by providing advice on career choices.
A counsellor will typically:
- Provide information that is non-clinical and in the general interest of the person attending counselling
- Provide advice on financial, government agencies, funding, and general life situations.
Example of health educators are:
- Public health nurses
- Physical educators
- Health promotion advocates
The role of a health educator is to provide information and seminars on topics of general public concern such as arthritis, sexual dysfunction, encouraging health and wellness to an individual.
National organisations include SPARC (formerly the Hillary Commission).
Chiropractors, (doctors of chiropractic or chiropractic physicians) are required to have undergone degree level tertiary education. They are qualified to diagnose and treat patients whose health problems are associated with the following systems of the body:
- Muscular system
- Nervous system
- Skeletal system, especially the spine.
In order to become a qualified Osteopath, tertiary education is required along with a few years of Masters level study in order to gain registration and practice as an osteopath. The role of an osteopath is to treat the body by gently moving the spine (not cracking it), muscles, bones, and joints. Such treatments gently change and correct the movement of the spine to restore movement and health to help to relieve pain and improve the function of the body. To support their work and further help their clients, they will also provide advice on exercises, posture, and lifestyle.
A registered physiotherapist is required to have undertaken relevant tertiary education. The role of a physiotherapist is to work with people to maintain and promote health, restore function and independence when people have disabilities or injuries. This work is conducted with a view to helping improve coordination, balance, muscle strength and sensation (neurological physiotherapy). The skills of a physiotherapist extend from individuals to groups, such as antenatal groups or sports teams, to prevent problems, they will also work with caregivers, family and, where appropriate other patient health carers about the patient's physiotherapy program and provide the necessary and relevant education to all parties.
Occupational therapists are tertiary educated and licensed health care professionals who can make a complete evaluation of the impact of the disease on the activities of the patient in both home and work situations. In order to gain a full picture of their client they consider hobbies and recreational activities in addition to work-related activities when making their assessment, they will focus their attention by assessing activities involved in activities of daily living in order to ensure independent, safe, day to day performance of activities.
A naturopath will hold relevant tertiary qualifications and registration in their field. The study of Naturopathy is a way of treating illness which uses the natural healing forces present in the human body. Naturopaths will deal with a wide variety of complaints and are qualified to prescribe herbal medicines, homoeopathic remedies, vitamins and minerals, flower essences, nutritional advice, perform massages and other remedial body therapies to effectively support and treat their clients.
Clinical psychologists are considered doctors as they hold a PhD (not a medical degree). They study at degree level then undertake a 1-2 year internship or a 2 year masters qualification and pass a registration exam to become a registered clinical psychologist. Their role involves examining and assessing people’s behaviour and mental health problems.
A clinical psychologist will typically:
- Assess the current emotional and lifestyle problems of clients
- Study how the feelings, actions, beliefs, experiences and culture of people interact to shape their experiences
- Apply therapy to a broad range of issues and clients including:
- Children
- Adults
- Couples
- Families
- Communities
- Give psychometric and neuropsychological tests to identify problems and to measure clients’ skills and abilities
- Refer to a psychiatrist for medications.
Determining which psychologist to attend should be based on several individual factors, of which your client will only be able to fully determine, such as:
- Do they work in the area I believe I need support in? E.g. anxiety, depression, trauma, couples, or therapy?
- How accessible are they? E.g. cost, distance, availability
- Do I feel comfortable with them? Personal and private information is being shared during these sessions, it is important that their clients feel comfortable, so if after a few sessions it does not feel comfortable, there is no malice in finding a new psychologist
- Do I feel confident in their skills? Discuss the proposed pathway of therapy, if the client feels it is not of the optimal support, raise this with the psychologist, therapy planning is a two-way street and communication is key.
To become a psychiatrist, a tertiary qualification must be undertaken in the field of medicine (doctor) with a specialisation in psychiatry. A psychiatrist is one who practices or studies the science of diagnosing and treating mental disorders and has the authority to prescribe medication as well as other forms of treatment.
A sports coach assists athletes at all levels in physical, psychological and tactical aspects of their sport to help improve sporting ability and sports specific exercise.
Possible roles of the sports coach are:
- Coaching and sport training
- Managing domestic, national, and international sport
- Personal training
- Sport co-ordination in school or community programmes.
To become a podiatrist, a minimum of a bachelor’s degree is required. The role of a podiatrist is to diagnose, prevent, and treat foot and lower limb problems.
A podiatrist will typically:
- Conduct routine foot care
- Provide and advise on care of lower limbs for people with diseases such as diabetes
- Conduct a diagnosis and treatment of sports-related injuries
- Perform nail and skin surgery
- Perform biomechanical assessments.
To become an accredited massage therapist, a minimum of a level 4 or 5 certificate is required. Within their practice, a massage therapist will conduct an initial screening where they will ask medical health, medicine and lifestyle questions and conduct a physical assessment of their client. They aim to help their clients relax and to treat a variety of ailments via manipulating soft tissue and kneading and massaging muscles and soft tissues. To achieve a comprehensive level of client support, they may also advise on additional factors such as exercise, relaxation and stretching techniques, and lifestyle needs.
There is an array of services on offer to effectively support a wide range of needs. The following are examples of organisations available within New Zealand which can provide services for your clients.
Established in 1985 and has since been superseded in 2002 by Sports and Recreation New Zealand (SPRAC). The Hillary Commission believed that it was in the countries’ interest to produce motivated and physically fit children and that teachers and coaches should have complete, all-inclusive sport and activity programs which encourage participation, motivation and commitment within youngsters, identifying that their needs were different to those of adults.
A program set up in order to encourage participation in physical activity in young people ( aged from 7-12 years) in New Zealand which provided access to simple and fun games and activities designed for all levels with an emphasis on maximum participation and progression at the children’s own rate.
Trusts which are established at a regional level providing access to activities and sport for all with the view of improving the wellbeing of individual communities, for example, Sport Gisborne, Sport Wellington, Sport Manawatu as well as others.
A charity constructed to promote equality, dignity, and respect for those over 65 years of age, their friends, and their whanau. This is achieved through education via expert information and support services in relation to the needs of the elderly
A Green Prescription, denoted as GRx, is a health professional’s written advice to a patient, as part of their health management which requires them to be physically active. It is typically a six-month healthy lifestyle program aimed at individual adults, their whanau, and the community as a whole, increasing levels of physical activity and encouraging community engagement whilst fostering a healthy lifestyle through education and behaviour change. The Green Prescription programme is an inexpensive, cost-effective method of increasing physical activity in primary care.
A Green Prescription, denoted as GRx, is a health professional’s written advice to a patient, as part of their health management which requires them to be physically active. It is typically a six-month healthy lifestyle program aimed at individual adults, their whanau, and the community as a whole, increasing levels of physical activity and encouraging community engagement whilst fostering a healthy lifestyle through education and behaviour change. The Green Prescription programme is an inexpensive, cost-effective method of increasing physical activity in primary care.
In this topic, we focused on the different allied health professionals you may need to work when working with special population clients along with additional physical activity and recreational activity associations available. You learnt:
- Different allied health professionals and their roles
- Sport and fitness organisations and initiatives established in New Zealand.
