A NEW APPROACH TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Camana Bay Times November 2017 Edition By Lisa Boushy

A state-of-the-art wellness studio, Align, recently opened its doors along the Paseo in the Camana Bay Town Centre, bringing a fresh, new concept to the Cayman Islands.

Offering a multidisciplinary approach to health and wellness, the 2,500-square-foot studio encompasses seven private treatment rooms and a 500-square-foot rehabilitation space. Sixteen-foot-high ceilings, large glass doors, clean lines and a neutral palette provide a welcoming and calm atmosphere. Align’s services include chiropractic treatment, physiotherapy, acupuncture and massage for a variety of conditions.

Co-founders David Dyer, Noel Watkins and Eamon Wilson collectively came up with the vision and concept for Align as a result of a shared interest in sports. They all have an extensive sporting background and all sustained various injuries over the years, which affected their lives in some way. Together with Align’s medical director, Susan Watling, they saw a gap in the Cayman Islands’ wellness market and set out to create a unique offering that would fuse together the various disciplines within a single high-end facility.

“It’s commonplace for treatments to be focused on the symptom rather than the root cause of the condition,” says Eamon. “This approach results in recurring injuries and an ongoing need for treatment. Instead, our focus is on identifying and resolving the root cause of the condition, be it lifestyle, workplace, insufficient core strength or other factors.”

Eamon says Align’s practitioners provide customised treatment programmes that incorporate all considerations, noting that studies show that a multidisciplinary approach to healthcare leads to better long-term results.

Align’s services include physical treatment by professional therapists, rehabilitation through core strength and conditioning practices, and preventative exercise to facilitate long-term wellness. Other services offered include pre- and post-natal care, mindfulness training, stress management and corporate wellness programmes.

Each of Align’s private treatment rooms is equipped with the latest software and technology so that practitioners can educate their clients on their specific area of injury and explain the condition in greater detail.

FOUR-STEP APPROACH

Align has a four-step process to bring clients through their plan of care. It starts with an assessment and information-gathering phase, where the client’s health background, condition and lifestyle are factored together.

Susan says Align has introduced “therapy triage” as part of its initial client assessment.

“This unique approach provides a comprehensive medical assessment that ensures a seamless transfer of clinical findings between physician and practitioner to deliver ongoing quality of care,” she says.
The second step in the process is the treatment phase, at which time it is determined what the best plan is for the client. The last two steps involve rehabilitation and conditioning. Through the rehabilitation programme, practitioners can not only treat their clients with the use of the latest techniques, but also educate them so they can learn how to rehabilitate at home or at the office.

“Rather than doing a quick demonstration of exercises, which is easily forgotten, we spend time teaching clients instead and tracking progress through the use of technology,” Eamon says, adding that during the conditioning phase, clients are guided to a place where they begin to change their lifestyle.

“They will learn how to manage their well-being through a combination of education, exercises, seminars, blogs and articles.” Susan says Align looks forward to helping drive improvement in the quality of healthcare offered in the Cayman Islands.

“We are excited to be able to support the medical community’s need for a multidisciplinary facility for rehabilitative and preventative care, where clinical findings and progress documentation are shared and communicated between physician, patient and practitioner,” she says.

RETAIL ELEMENT

Align also has a retail component, with various merchandise available for purchase, including vitamin supplements, essential oils, exercise and rehabilitation products and high-tech gadgets like posture trackers.

A revolutionary ergonomics system in the form of “leaning” or “perching” desks will also be available for purchase. Eamon says that with these desks, the lower part of the body is always engaged and active. When the stool moves, even slightly, it generates micro-movements, creating more blood circulation, delivering oxygen to all parts of the body, including the brain.

“We are not referring to a plug-and-play solution, where you remove the old desk and put in a new one in,” he says. “Instead we aim to help create a space and environment which enables people to be active and never in a fully seated position.”

Although Align is multifaceted in its approach, its goal is simply to help people change their lives for the better.

“By integrating wellness with medical healthcare, it means we can look at the physical body as well as the person’s lifestyle as a total, thereby transforming their lifestyles for the better,” he says.