009 Graham Melstrand: Leveraging Fitness Technology For Group Health Programming

Graham Melstrand develops opportunities and relationships that advance ACE health policy positions and fitness industry standards. He assesses legislative positions at all levels of government that align with the ACE mission, and he monitors existing and emerging legislation and regulatory policy, informing ACE of the potential impact they have on the exercise professional, the public, and other stakeholders. He creates relationships with key policymakers and collaborative organizations and serves in an advisory capacity on a number of boards and committees including: president of the board for the Coalition for the Registration of Exercise Professionals, within the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and other regulatory agencies.

Melstrand holds a bachelor's degree in physical education/athletic training from California State University, Long Beach. As a competitive cyclist, he participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials (1984, 1988) and was a member of the U.S. National Team Development Program (1983 – 1990).

Listen To Episode 009 As Graham Uncovers

• Why 72% of clients are asking for advice and feedback from activity trackers
• Why the exercise professional is moving into health coaching space to manage large groups
• Group Exercise Programming: Growing diversity and opportunities in the space
• Program offerings around the health coaching space
• Understanding the programmatic based delivery models for personal training vs. session-based delivery model
• What national programs are moving health progress forward by blending the activity data and prevention programs with and without government reimbursement
• Why programmatic based delivery service models reach more members than session based delivery models (3-5%)
• How the perception of the public health community about the fitness professional is now changing
• Community health: How new wearable activity technology is being used to geo-target for ROI in infrastructures for walkable communities
• Health literacy: Do average people know if they are or are not meeting activity guidelines?
• Correlations between physical activity and disease in affluent countries
• Life insurance: How will this industry give discounts for activity tracked through wearables?
• Understanding Intensive Behavioral Therapy: Received a grade B recommendation from the US preventative services task force now covered by medicare/medicaid (Behavioral physical activity nutritional intervention that targets individuals that are at risk for cardiovascular disease and have an additional risk factor - an estimated 90 million Americans would be open to receive this type of lifestyle counseling and would benefit, but only 8 million individuals have had access to it.
• How the YMCA's are a core portion of the delivery for the CDC's diabetes prevention program, which was just approved for reimbursement through medicare/medicaid (to the resistance of big pharma)
• Graham's featured contribution in the 2017 FIT-C Tech Trends Report

Top 3 Takeaways From The Show

• The data is showing from ACE and other Industry reports that health coaching is emerging in our space where the non-member programs are becoming a lot more common. People are moving from early adopters and into the next group of facilities that want to build on the success that their peers have had.
• In 2017, technology and devices are not the competition for the fitness professional, they are a tool that can be leveraged to help manage a larger client base, stay in contact with clients, and to manage a group of individuals towards better health.
• The perception of the public health community about the role of fitness professionals is now changing via the use of accreditation and new technology that taps into the potential of aggregate data that can be used to increase population health.

Power Quotes From Graham

"Technology devices are not competition for the exercise professional, they are a tool that can be leveraged to help manage a larger client base, stay in contact with clients, and to manage a group of individuals towards better health." - Graham Melstrand on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

"We believe that health coaching is rapidly emerging in the health and fitness space while the non-member programs are becoming a lot more common. People are moving from early adopters and into the next group of facilities that want to build on the success that their peers have had." - Graham Melstrand on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

Resources Mentioned From Graham

• Leveraging Tech to Help Create Active, Walking Communities (Recorded Webinar)
• Surgeon General's Activity Guidelines
• John Hancock Vitality Program
• ACAC - P.R.E.P Program
• ACE Fitness Professionals
• GENEVIX, New England
• CDC physical activity guidelines
• Coalition for the registration of exercise professionals: USREPS accredited organization for trainers
• ACE: increased focus for the use of technology for the fitness professional
• Workplace wellness programs
• Intensive behavioral therapy - Grade B (US preventative services task force)
• Carmichael Training Systems - Endurance coaching
• Insurance companies providing incentives for wearable activity tracking
• Enhance Fitness - Seattle Senior Services

Support This Podcast

• Leave a 5 star review on iTunes
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• Contact FIT-C for sponsorship and partnership opportunities
• Download the 2017 Tech Trends report