Resilience

Sometimes there seems to be a synchronicity in what happens. That happened to us last week. On the day I was writing the blog Be Prepared, about how to get ready for your first appointment, I head a radio interview about the new app Get Prepared. Whilst we normally write about chiropractic, podiatry, massage and related subjects, we are also all about the general wellbeing and welfare of our patients. So this week we are going right off script and talking about a new initiative that we believe is really important.

A recent worldwide research study by The Rockefeller Foundation identified that by 2050, 75% of the world’s population will be living in a city. By their very size and nature, cities can be very vulnerable to a range of stresses. The study found that one of the most pressing social issues is resilience. The media often talks about resilience of the individual – particularly instilling it in children – but the resilience this study focused on was the resilience of cities, and the communities within them, to withstand the pressures of the future. And so, the 100 Resilient Cities initiative was formed – a group of 100 cities worldwide were chosen to join this network – and Sydney is amongst them.

The initiative aims to assist cities in planning for – and learning from – stressors on not only their own city, but others in the network. The objective is to increase the ability of cities to withstand both acute crises – like terror attacks, heatwave conditions or infrastructure failure; and chronic situations – like homelessness, crime and poverty.

Each city will appoint a Chief Resilience Officer – Sydney has already done so – who will help develop a Resilience Strategy in consultation with public, private and NGO partners.

As part of this strategy, the Chief Resilience Officer, in partnership with the Red Cross, has released an app called Get Prepared. This app aims at helping households and families to develop their own Resilience Strategy by giving you information and tools to develop a plan and checklist of actions, and a network of support in the case of emergency. If you are interested in downloading this app, you can find it here:

https://www.redcross.org.au/get-help/emergencies/preparing-for-emergencies/get-prepared-app

In many ways, resilience is about being prepared and acting before a crisis, rather than responding to one. And this brings us to a new level of synchronicity. Often people wait until they are in pain or having trouble moving before making an appointment with the Chiropractor. But as we age, and pick up small injuries and niggling pains on our way, visiting your Chiropractor should be seen as preventative maintenance – regular check-ins that help ensure you are not surprised by an acute attack of pain, and that should the worst happen and you injure yourself, you are in the best possible condition to weather the storm.

Think of Precision Health Spine & Sports Clinic as a partner in your Resilience Strategy and consider making a regular visit to our clinic to ensure your physical resilience. Call our Baulkham Hills Clinic today on 9639 7337.