Prudence Rehab are the trusted wellness experts when it comes to managing employee health and well-being. Maintaining optimal physical and psychological health of your workforce are integral to business success, and leveraging from our experience and wholistic approach to evidence-based injury prevention and rehabilitation, Prudence Rehab can identify and optimise areas of your business to achieve improved wellness performance.

In understanding your business, our strategy is simple:

• reduce absenteeism and the financial, physical and psychological costs associated with employee injury and illness
• improve the health and wellbeing of your workforce
• increase employee engagement, satisfaction and retention
• improve recruitment and increase productivity
• ensure adherence to work health and safety obligations
• assist with the development of policies that address barriers to employment
• reduce claims costs and insurance premiums.

People who exercise have better mental fitness. Research into the effect of exercise as a prevention strategy and a treatment for depression have revealed resoundingly positive results.

Regular exercise has been found to change specific parts of the brain involved in memory, anxiety and depression, and has been shown to have protective effects against the development of depression.

In a landmark study led by the Black Dog Institute, regular exercise of any intensity was shown to be effective in preventing depression in many people, from as little as 1 hour per week, regardless of age or gender. The HUNT study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, is one of the most extensive studies of its kind, analysing the effect of exercise on symptoms of anxiety and depression for over 33,000 people over 11 years. People who were not exercising had a 44% increased chance of developing depression than the people who were exercising 1-2 hours per week.

When prescribed as a treatment, 16 weeks of regular exercise was found to be equally as effective as antidepressant medication for mild to moderate depression, without any of the adverse side effects. For people with severe depression, a combination of exercise, medication and psychological therapy gave the best outcomes.

Your Brain on Exercise:

We’ve put together 10 ways regular exercise may alleviate the symptoms of mild to moderate depression:

• Increasing energy levels
• Reducing the impact of stress
• Improving sleep
• Distracting from worries and rumination
• Providing social connection, if done in a group
• Building levels of protective and growth factors in the brain (BDNF)
• Increases growth of new neurons in part of the brain responsible for memory and mood (hippocampus)
• Replenishing neurotransmitters that are vital to mood, motivation and memory
• Increasing natural vitamin D if exercising outdoors
• Improves self-esteem

The Prudence Rehab Revitalise Program incorporates exercise as a vital part of restoring life domains essential to good mental health. The program can be used as an early intervention for people who are at risk of depression, or as a treatment program to reduce the severity and duration of depression and restore function and quality of life.

Are you doing enough exercise?

To learn more or book contact us: t 02 9283 5552 | e support@prudencerehab.com.au | w www.prudencerehab.com.au