Cancer and The Lack Of Integrative Care - Why ?

When Celebrities like  Michael Douglas announce a cancer diagnosis , as he did last September, it catches people's attention. Thankfully Michael had a good reaction to treatment and his stage 4 throat cancer tumor was gone in January of 2011. Fortunately Mr. Douglas lives in an area that offers some of the best treatment options available. Not everyone is so lucky.

I successfully (knock on wood) navigated through cancer in the past few years (see my talk on cancer below) I know first hand that many in the traditional sick care system still do not offer integrative wellness services for cancer patients. Despite having the most advanced radiation and chemo therapies available, I was unable to receive alternative therapies that would have helped me to cope and recover from traditional treatment methods. An example is acupuncture therapy. It simply was not readily available where I live.

Working in fitness and wellness this really made me wonder, Why? When I mentioned to my surgeon and oncologist about my work out regimens and how I had lost all of my energy and was unable to be physically active, there was never a mention of alternative therapies I could have used. Essentially there was NO integrative care available to either myself or the many other souls suffering around me.

The good news is that many alternative therapies are becoming more available. Trouble is for the clear majority of patients, they are not available. Furthermore, because these therapies are largely private pay, for most people without financial means they simply could not benefit from them if they were available. It cost too much.

So please tell me, Bryan O'Rourke, why aren't alternative therapies more readily available ? Let me know your thoughts about creating a "Circle of Health" that encompasses traditional and preventative therapies.

Bryan K. O'Rourke On His Cancer Experience from Bryan ORourke on Vimeo.

With IHRSA Promoting Primary Prevention In Washington D.C.

Three years of my life were spent in the Washington D.C. suburbs growing up. I love Washington, D.C., so it was great to be there last week during IHRSA's 9th Annual Summit For A Healthier America.

I visited the offices of four Senators and two Congressional leaders in the House around IHRSA's legislative agenda. Speaking with aides and leaders themselves is interesting. Its almost unbelievable that the notion of primary prevention has not been more central to the recently passed Affordable Care Act ; there isn't a single mention of primary prevention in the legislation . What a shame. The fitness industry has got to become a more integral part of the solution to the sick care crisis.

Sharing time with the IHRSA staff behind the lobbying effort as well as industry leaders like Michael Raymond of Curves, Art Curtis of Millennium Partners, and Karen Jashinsky of O2 Max, among many others, is always fun and enlightening.

Get involved in the IHRSA public policy movement.  Learn more here. We need your help. Check out the video from the event as well. You might find it interesting and amusing. So what do you think about IHRSA and its public policy initiatives ? Write me, Bryan O'Rourke, and share your views. Could we be doing more and how ?

Zeitgeist - Thinking Of The Future Of Your Business & Your Life

When I talk about a revolution happening in all businesses, industries, institutions, governments and people's lives, I really mean it. This is particularly true for the fitness and health club industry. Hearing from great thought leaders is inspiring because it reassures me that I might not be totally nuts, although I get that deer in the headlight look sometimes from people. That is why I am excited about the upcoming annual Zeitgeist event.

On May 15, 2011, the Zeitgiest Partner Forum will again be on in London. Zeitgeist is Google’s annual event held just outside London, currently in its 6th year, bringing together around 400 business and thought leaders from across Europe. Watch Don Tapscott discuss the revolution during last years event. Facts are our institutions are broken and they require completely new ways of thinking to completely replace their old methodologies. Its worth the 20 minutes I promise you. After you watch it tell me, Bryan O'Rourke, what do you think ? Are you reinventing your industry, organization or life around the rapid change that is occurring now and which will only accelerate ?

Technology's Increasing Role In A New World Of Fitness & Wellness

Attending NAYDO 2011 last week, I saw an example, meeting with Gene Theslof, CEO of Gluco Fit Club. Later in the week, visiting Robert Hallock of Wellness Layers, I witnessed it again: the emergence of technologies that address diseases by incorporating physical activities, monitoring, and encouraging social interactions both physically and digitally. When people speak about the obesity crisis, these solutions are going to be central to making real progress in the battle as they will for diabetes and other conditions.

Recently in Sydney Australia at FILEX 2011 My Presentation On Technologies Impact On The Future Of The Fitness Industry, started with concepts of Ray Kurzweil, a futurist, author and inventor. His books address an important concept, the law of accelerating returns. As he rightly views it, technology is NOT progressing in a linear fashion but exponentially, resulting in very rapid change. The implications for the fitness and wellness industries are significant.

I share two clips below for your consideration. The first is a movie trailer of Transcedent Man, which features Ray Kurzweil, and the second is an interview by Charlie Rose of Mr. Kurzweil. Tell me, Bryan O'Rourke, what do you think about technology and its impact on the fitness and health club industry ? How are you preparing for the Law of Accelerating Returns ?

Globalism's Impact On The Fitness & Health Club Industries

Its already May and with nearly half of 2011 over I've had the fortune of traveling to China, Australia and across the U.S. visiting major players and participants in the global health and fitness industry. This has led me to a question, "How is globalization impacting the health club and fitness industries?" But more importantly, I ask "are our leaders and organizations doing enough to work together globally ?"

In speaking with business and industry leaders there certainly is great variety on their view points regarding collaboration globally in health clubs, fitness and even wellness. Some of these leaders are doing the hard work and heavy lifting while I think others are more focused on maintaining the status quo, often out of fear.

As a fitness industry expert, I reflect on trends and seek to understand how these will impact our businesses and organizations. In his recent book, World 3.0, Global Prosperity and How To Achieve It , Professor Pankaj Ghemawat explains some important concepts that resonated with me. I wonder, is all of the global leadership in the fitness and health club industries collaborating in a manner to best grow the global pie ?  Are we adopting the World 3.0 view ? (Take this test to see what your view is). Watch the video below and tell me, Bryan O'Rourke, are the leaders in the fitness and health club industries working together well enough ? Is this helping or hurting the growth potential for fitness, health clubs and wellness in general ? P.S. My thanks to Will Phillips for our chat at IHRSA 2011 around this and other topics that inspired me to do something about it.