Niagara College Health and Fitness Promotion professor Jodi Steele will host a Lymphedema Management workshop on Feb. 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The workshop will offer the knowledge and skills required for fitness or health professionals to work with clients diagnosed with cancer. The 6.5-hour course teaches an array of skills including appropriate exercise techniques and safety considerations, how to administer an oncology assessment, how to design an individualized fitness plan, and more.
“There is a major gap in the training of health care professionals in the area of oncology,” said Steele. “Niagara region is no exception.”
The workshop is geared towards physiotherapist, occupational therapists, massage therapists, chiropractors and kinesiologists with hopes they can become better able to serve their clients with cancer.
For $300, health and fitness professionals can learn the newest knowledge and skills in the oncology field.
“So much new knowledge as come out in the research in the last five to 10 years,” said Steele. “For example, we use to think if people had cancer … let them rest. Now we know that is important to survival to get them up and moving as soon as possible and even train them during high dose chemotherapy and radiation.”
Steele is a registered physiotherapist, professor and founder of Cancer Rehab Inc., Canada’s first not-for-profit cancer rehabilitation centre. In 2009, she designed, developed and launched Wellspring’s Cancer Exercise Program, which continues to be delivered at sites throughout Southern Ontario. She also received the 2009 Arch Award from McMaster University for her innovative contributions to society.
For more information or to register for the workshop, click here.
