Pediatric Home Exercise Programs: A Family Affair

Pediatric therapists design Home Exercise Programs (HEP)  as a supplement to the regularly scheduled hands-on treatment sessions they provide when treating the pediatric population. What makes these home exercise programs successful is the involvement and carry over provided by the family and caregivers. Just like any well-designed exercise program, consistency and repetition are the keys to success in order to achieve set goals. Think about it like this, it takes a lot longer to achieve fitness goals such as losing weight if you are only going to the gym once a week. On the other hand, going to the gym 3-4 or even 5 times per week typically produce faster results, instills confidence, and improves self-esteem. That's the funny thing about goals. Once we see that we can achieve a set goal, it’s not so hard to begin dreaming big. Honestly, at the end of our day, isn't that we want for our children - to dream big and have the confidence to know that can achieve anything they set their mind to.

So you see, home exercise programs are important for many reasons and if you think about them as more than just stretching, squats, and making certain sounds, they really are a Family Affair!!  

Proverbs 22:6

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.