Latest / Still Caring / 17: Building Resilience, Together

Transcript

17: Building Resilience, Together · Still Caring

0:03
Abby Fox (Intro): Welcome to the Still Caring Podcast,
0:05
presented by Stillwater Medical.
0:07
Joe Akin (Intro): Here, community is at the heart of healthcare.
0:09
Katon Lunsford (Intro): Through honest conversations and shared experiences
0:12
Abby Fox (Intro): we explore what it means to care for our health—
0:14
Joe Akin (Intro): and each other.
0:15
Katon Lunsford (Intro): Because better health takes a village
0:17
and you're part of ours.
0:19
Abby Fox (Host): Welcome to Still Caring.
0:20
I'm Abby Fox, the PR and Marketing Manager at Stillwater Medical, and I am joined
0:25
today by Lance Walker and Zach Collett.
0:27
Thank you guys for being here.
0:29
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Thanks.
0:29
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: Thanks for having us.
0:30
Host: We're really excited to have a conversation about resilience,
0:32
because this season, a lot of the different stories we focus on are
0:35
about unexpected health challenges.
0:37
And so, talking about resilience today, I think, is going to be great.
0:41
But before we dive in, I would just love to hear more about you all.
0:44
So, tell us a little bit about your background, what you do, and when
0:48
Stillwater became home for you.
0:49
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Go ahead, Z.
0:52
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: My name is Zach Collett.
0:52
I'm a Stillwater native, grew up here.
0:56
I went to school, went to Oklahoma State, and then left for about
0:59
eight years, working as an athletic trainer at the time.
1:03
And then, school brought me back.
1:05
I came and went down to Langston for physical therapy
1:09
and finished there in 2014.
1:11
Started working out at Total Health.
1:13
And I've been there the last twelve, going on thirteen years.
1:16
I had a great opportunity during that time to be able to continue to work with the
1:20
Stillwater community and kind of home.
1:24
Stillwater became home kind of around that time whenever my wife
1:27
was also working for Oklahoma State.
1:29
And so, we decided to stay here after PT school.
1:32
And then, I've continued to do sports medicine coverage with Perkins Tryon.
1:36
I've helped some with Stillwater High School over the years, and so just
1:38
keep plugging back into the community.
1:40
Host: That's great.
1:41
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Yeah.
1:42
And then, I'm Lance.
1:44
I'm a Director of a Human Performance and Nutrition Research Institute
1:49
here at Oklahoma State, and that's a lot of words, but man, it's a big
1:52
honor to come back to my home state.
1:54
And we've talked before, Zach, as I'm also a physio by some training.
1:59
But I started off as a coach, and spent some time in Texas in high-performance
2:03
sport, working with elite athletes from really all diverse places.
2:09
But I'm a fifth-generation Okie.
2:10
So, I was able to bring my family back about four years ago here and settle in
2:17
on taking this vision of health through performance to life here in Stillwater,
2:23
and I kind of feel like I've come home.
2:25
Host: Yes.
2:26
That's awesome.
2:27
Where in Oklahoma is your family from?
2:30
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Well, I just usually point north and west.
2:33
Host: Okay,
2:33
Lance Walker, PT, MS: great.
2:33
If Oklahoma, you know what I'm talking about.
2:36
And I grew up on a farm in a ranch community there
2:40
between Freedom and Woodward.
2:42
I was born in Woodward Hospital there, and then sort of spent half my time
2:47
with my mother in Ashland, Kansas, a little southwestern town there.
2:51
Small town.
2:53
And in the summers with my dad, and my grandfather there on Freedom at the
2:57
ranch, doing some farming and ranching.
2:59
So, no matter where I went, I couldn't get away from the farm and ranch piece, which
3:04
has been a real blessing for me long term.
3:06
Host: That's great.
3:07
Well, my family, we have a family in southwest Kansas, and we're always like,
3:11
"Ashland, we got to use the bathroom."
3:13
And so, we're always glad to stop there.
3:15
Lance Walker, PT, MS: There's only one.
3:16
And it's only open hours, I think.
3:18
So if there's that flashing light, it's kind of a small, small place.
3:22
Host: It's a small world.
3:22
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Small world.
3:23
Host: Yeah.
3:23
It really is.
3:24
I'm so glad to talk to you guys today, because I think your experience
3:28
fits so well with resilience.
3:30
I mean, what you're doing day in and day out, you're helping people restore
3:33
their health, you're helping them go to the next level with sports.
3:36
If you had to say kind of what are those building blocks of resilience,
3:39
what would you say those are?
3:42
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Zach, I'll let you go first.
3:43
I'm sure you got some good ones.
3:46
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: So, one of the first things, and I know
3:48
Lance would agree to this, is sleep.
3:51
Sleep's huge.
3:52
So, that's when our body—
3:53
Host: Gosh, I wouldn't have thought that.
3:55
Sleep.
3:55
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: Yes.
3:55
That's whenever our body is allowed to heal.
3:56
Host: I can do that.
3:57
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: Yes.
3:59
Nutrition.
4:00
You know, if we're not eating and putting the right stuff into our bodies, we
4:04
can only perform as good as we fuel ourselves, just like putting gas in a car.
4:08
If we don't put in what we need to, it won't last as long as it should.
4:12
So, a big one that a lot of people are talking about now is even just
4:17
movement and physical activity.
4:18
Because you used to think that, as you aged, your muscles would get smaller,
4:23
but there's research now that shows that if you continue to strength train,
4:26
you continue to be active, you may not have that same muscle wasting as we once
4:31
thought just happened with normal aging.
4:35
The other couple things that I have is, like, family and community, having
4:39
a great support system, that's huge.
4:41
Motivation, continuing to have that drive that gets you up out of bed, gets
4:45
you to the gym, gets you being active.
4:47
And then, also just how we respond.
4:49
You know, we choose how we're going to take the activities that come at us.
4:54
So if we look at it and say, "Well, worst thing possible is happening to me.
5:01
I can't do anything now," versus, "This is an inconvenience, but I can
5:05
grow from this," or, "I can take this opportunity and turn it into something,
5:09
potentially a blessing in disguise."
5:12
How we respond is typically huge at how that resilience is built.
5:17
Host: Absolutely.
5:18
Lance Walker, PT, MS: I love that because what he's talking about for me
5:21
when I think resilience is the ability to bounce back, you know, to respond.
5:27
And I really like what you said there about responding.
5:30
And I think a key for us that we can maybe steal from elite athletes that I've been
5:37
around my whole career has been spent really working in and around elite sport.
5:42
And they bounce back almost every day.
5:48
You know, it's like it's not like a crisis that they—there's a constant
5:52
bounce back, because training is kind of a beating, you know?
5:57
And so, it's almost like this process, and I think it's a process of bouncing
6:02
back on a daily basis, is one thing.
6:06
And you mentioned something really good, sort of the social piece of resilience.
6:11
And that's something too that we've learned in watching athletes perform
6:15
at high levels and bounce back from challenges, is they do a really good job
6:20
of surrounding themselves with a village.
6:23
And sometimes that's a sibling, sometimes that's a physical therapist,
6:28
which is what I love us talking about, some of the work you do.
6:31
But they have this village, and they lean on that village,
6:36
and they trust that village.
6:37
And when that village has some competence and some confidence, you
6:40
know, a competent, confident provider, healthcare provider, man, that makes
6:45
all the difference in the world.
6:46
And so, I think those are a couple of things that I saw in the elite athlete
6:51
world, even beyond just bouncing back from a crisis or a terrible thing.
6:55
But every day, there was this build up, this thing of resiliency that
7:01
was developing day after day after day, and that's something that I
7:04
think we can all apply in our lives.
7:06
Host: Well, and it's almost like they're not waiting for that to happen.
7:08
They are creating that circumstance so they can train their body to respond.
7:12
Lance Walker, PT, MS: That's a really good point.
7:13
They're preparing to perform.
7:16
And they're thinking it's a process.
7:18
It's a process.
7:19
They're not really preparing to prevent something.
7:22
Host: Yes.
7:23
Lance Walker, PT, MS: They're thinking very proactive.
7:25
I want to be on the field, on the court, right?
7:27
Yes.
7:27
I mean, that's what you see in the clinic a lot.
7:30
And so, those are some things that, "Hey, maybe we can grab a hold of that.
7:33
And I want to prepare to be the best teacher," or "I want to be
7:37
the best dad when I go home tonight after a long day of directing this
7:42
institute prepare to perform."
7:45
And, when you start to change that mindset, I think that's something that,
7:50
you probably use in the clinic all the time with your patients, whether they're
7:52
sports or, you know, athletes for life.
7:55
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: I like to say to patients that if what you
7:58
were working at home was working, you would have never had to come see me.
8:01
Host: Yeah.
8:02
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: And so, we have to change something, whether
8:05
it's activities, whether it's positional tolerances to, different postures
8:11
and stuff throughout the day, or if it's just building overall capacity.
8:14
Like, that's stuff that we have to work on and do day in, day out,
8:19
so that way life becomes easier.
8:20
Host: That's right.
8:21
Yeah.
8:21
That's awesome.
8:22
Well, you probably, I mean, speaking of your patients, have great examples
8:26
of kind of seeing this at play.
8:27
Are there some like daily habits or mindsets that just stand out to
8:31
you as you think through, you know, some people that you've worked with?
8:35
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Man, we could probably go on and on.
8:37
But I think one of the mindsets, again, of the performance mindset is having that
8:46
sort of why always right there sort of within eyesight, because sometimes when
8:52
our folks get injured or a crisis, that why can sometimes feel like it's far away.
8:58
Man, my why is I want to play basketball again, and they're looking at their
9:02
leg from a surgery, and they're like, "I can't see a basketball court.
9:06
I can't even see past this knee brace."
9:08
So, they're focusing maybe keeping that, "Hey, let's keep a glimpse on
9:12
that why all the time, even though right now doesn't look like basketball.
9:17
Host: Right.
9:17
I'm not on a basketball court right now.
9:18
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Yeah.
9:18
But I think you do a good job of that as a therapist, and I know that that's
9:22
what some of these high-performance teams do, is let's keep that why forefront
9:30
of everybody's mind, the therapist, the dietician, the tactical coach,
9:35
the parents, I mean, everybody should always see, hey, that's the end result.
9:39
That's our functional, you know, outcome.
9:41
We used to, you know, train on how to write goals for that.
9:44
And even day one, there's something in there that connects to that why.
9:51
Host: And is it the verbalizing of that?
9:52
Like, do you think that helps people if you can define your why
9:56
and what you're looking toward?
9:57
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: I think so.
9:58
I think that's something that when You, know where that goal
10:01
is, it's like goal setting.
10:02
If you don't go and have that goal of what am I trying to get back to, then it
10:06
can be really challenging to know how to progress it, know what you need to do.
10:12
Because if there's no end in sight, then how do we get there?
10:17
It's very hard to be able to do that.
10:21
and so,
10:25
if we can, in the clinic or with any of the other
10:30
challenges we find ourself with, or patients that we end up working with,
10:33
if we're able to figure out what's that one thing that we can do to get them
10:38
back to where they want to be in life, that that's the direction we can take.
10:42
Maybe it's somebody walking from their bedroom to the bathroom because they
10:46
haven't walked independently for years.
10:49
Maybe it's getting back to the basketball court and being able to jump.
10:53
Maybe I'm just finished with collegiate athletics, that's not what I'm looking
11:01
at now, but I'm looking at still I want to run, I want to be active, I want to
11:04
do something so that way, when I have kids, I can do that stuff with my kids.
11:11
One of the things that I put down, was preparing for life,
11:14
because those are all tasks that we have to do to prepare for life.
11:18
So that way, when life happens, we're ready for it
11:22
Host: You said two things that are
11:23
Lance Walker, PT, MS: really Important there.
11:24
And we see it in athletes for sport, athletes that are first responders,
11:29
you know, this concept of athlete.
11:32
I kind of feel like we're kind of all sort of athletes, even though
11:35
you guys—we all are kind of competing against gravity and fatigue.
11:41
And there's a competition going on almost every day.
11:43
Host: Yeah.
11:43
Yeah, daily.
11:44
Lance Walker, PT, MS: But you said a couple things.
11:45
One was control the controllable.
11:48
You know, that's something we hear a lot in the news.
11:52
It's kind of cliche, right?
11:53
Control the controllables.
11:54
But that's really something that we have seen, I think both of us have
11:57
seen in, in our clinics and in working with populations that are resilient
12:02
regardless of what their crisis was, that they are controlling the controllables.
12:07
And sometimes that's hard conversation.
12:09
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: Oh, yeah.
12:10
Lance Walker, PT, MS: "Hey, today, we're going to control.
12:11
Yeah, I know it's hurting and I know…
12:13
We're going to control what we can control.
12:15
Let's get one extra degree of flexion today," right?
12:18
That could be something, a really basic, but that's what we can control.
12:22
And so, that's a really good thing, I think, for us to think about.
12:25
What is that controllable?
12:26
And then two, you said it really good, there's a process.
12:30
You know, it's not about getting all the way there today.
12:34
No.
12:34
It's the very next step that I can take.
12:37
And I think being good with better.
12:39
Ynot perfect, not done, you know, even if it's just a step that direction.
12:44
So, you're controlling those things, and then showing progress
12:47
every day in clinic, right?
12:49
How valuable is that to say, "Man, you really progressed
12:53
on this one thing today."
12:55
Host: Well, and your reminder of that is so key because I've been to physical
12:59
therapy before and I can remember being like, "Ugh, I'm here again."
13:02
You know?
13:03
And they're like, "Well, what's the matter?"
13:04
And I'm like, "Well, I'm not better yet."
13:06
You know?
13:06
And they're like, "Okay, well are you better than you were last week?"
13:09
And I'm like, "Yes, I do think…"
13:10
you know?
13:11
And so they're like, "Give your body time."
13:13
You know?
13:13
And so, that's so key.
13:15
Lance Walker, PT, MS: You made a really good point.
13:16
We do that trick in therapy- Yeah … a lot is, you're in pain or you're
13:19
dysfunctional, and you're coming in, and it's a Tuesday, and you were
13:21
just here last Friday, and, "Man, I still feel the same," you know.
13:26
And I got into that, right?
13:28
I'll tell you a secret.
13:29
I was probably the most famous Big Eight wide receiver back in the old days.
13:35
Because I actually played in games, but I had more knee surgeries
13:39
than receptions in my career.
13:41
So, I spent a lot of time in that sort of space of like, gosh darn, you know?
13:46
But the idea was always this sort of, "Man, Friday and then Tuesday, I just
13:50
don't feel like I'm progressing."
13:52
But when the therapist would pull out their script, and they'd say,
13:55
"Look, last Tuesday, you were here.
13:59
This Tuesday, you're there," you're like, "Wow, I'm progressing."
14:03
And I needed you in my village to pull that out and say, "You know what?
14:07
When you pull up a level, look at you.
14:09
You're actually on that march forward."
14:12
That was helpful for me as an athlete, too, and I know that's
14:15
something you use a lot in the clinic, and you probably use as well.
14:19
Host: Absolutely.
14:19
Yeah, as a parent.
14:20
I mean, I mean I feel like happens all the time.
14:22
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Yeah.
14:23
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: And we see patients that are in
14:25
that same boat every single day.
14:28
And so, knowing what that process looks like, it's hard for somebody that
14:31
it's a novel experience, and this is the first time they dealt with this.
14:34
If this is the 100th or 1000th time we've worked with a knee, and we see that
14:39
constant progression that we're trying to hit those milestones, when we can look
14:44
at it and we're like, "Okay, you're right where you need to be," or even, "Let's
14:46
tweak this a little bit because we want to push you a little bit more because we
14:49
know what you're capable of," sometimes that feels really hard because it's
14:54
not something that you might be used to because, again, this is something new.
15:00
But being able to trust in the process, it's always great
15:02
whenever you see somebody that finally trusts in the process.
15:06
And all of a sudden, it's like a light switch.
15:08
And they come in the next time, they're like, "I don't know what you did,
15:10
but I feel significantly better."
15:12
And it always happens.
15:15
Some take a little bit longer to get there, but it's like once that process
15:18
starts, then that motivation to keep going and keep doing whatever, even the
15:23
hard stuff, it's like I know this is beneficial because even if I'm sore,
15:28
even if I'm having difficulty with it, I know in a week, two weeks, whatever,
15:34
that gets me back to what I need to do.
15:36
Host: You have that experience to look back on and keep yourself going.
15:40
That's great.
15:41
Well, I'll transition a little bit here because I think, you know, HPNRI,
15:45
is that acronym that you all use?
15:48
Yeah.
15:48
I've heard a lot about it, like, kind of in the news, but I've not known
15:51
what that means, and especially when I think so much about the research part.
15:55
What I love about OSU is that land-grant mission, how it's like not just
15:58
about the knowledge, but it's about getting the knowledge to the people.
16:01
So, talk to us about how you're using the research that you
16:04
guys have to help Oklahomans.
16:07
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Well, your first question was a good one.
16:09
What does it mean?
16:11
Human Performance and Nutrition Research Institute, and that's a lot of different
16:16
words there that feels like a mouthful, but they're each very, very important
16:20
words, that sort of if you pull up a level, you can pick each of those out.
16:25
And man, those all kind of fit together and make something
16:27
that's really important, and that importance is why this was created.
16:31
This was created to improve health through performance.
16:37
We've been talking, we've been talking about performance here, right?
16:41
Yeah.
16:41
I mean, it's about performing for life, performing for sport, that we're all
16:45
sort of wanting to get to that why, and that's our link to what we're going
16:50
to do today to be better for tomorrow.
16:54
That's the same for sport.
16:55
It's the same for you and you as a therapist, you as
16:59
a practitioner, me as a dad.
17:01
And so, that's the why, and that's what it is.
17:04
It's an institute, a hub for the ecosystem of human performance,
17:11
of which Zach is a part of.
17:13
So I mean, that's a great example where it's not just this special
17:16
little place that people will go and do really cool stuff.
17:20
It is an ecosystem.
17:22
It's an enabler.
17:23
And we want to get with these folks, these are the force multipliers
17:27
of health and human performance that are in our state right now.
17:31
Therapists, coaches, educators, employers, you know, policymakers.
17:38
These are the folks that are the force multipliers that then taking best
17:42
practice from science, mixing it with evidence from the practical world.
17:49
We got experts like Zach that join us on some of these lines that create this
17:56
virtual sort of community or village of expertise, but you blend the science.
18:01
You pull that forward, make it digestible.
18:05
Make it usable.
18:06
Host: Yes.
18:08
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Try to filter out what you can that is at a certain
18:10
level of evidence, and then cross it in with some of this expertise, and
18:15
then that becomes this enabler, right?
18:17
This enables this better.
18:19
Like, we just talked about as providers, as practitioners, that's what we're
18:23
about, is better as providers so that he can be better for the 20, 30, 50
18:29
patients you might see in a week.
18:32
That becomes this force multiplier of the science, the best practice
18:35
and the evidence and the practical.
18:37
You're blending that together and then Sort of creating a village with
18:41
you to elevate performance for all.
18:44
So, that's the why and the how and, and where it ends up going
18:48
and how it ends up impacting your listeners and, hopefully, you.
18:51
Host: That is awesome.
18:52
And it's not just his 20 or 30 patients, it's times however many
18:58
people that you have bringing together.
19:00
So, I wondered if you, Zach, could talk about that from your seat,
19:03
kind of how it has impacted you.
19:04
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: And
19:07
basically, the overall whole goal in health is always to make somebody better.
19:11
And so, one of the things that I love about Project Echo, which is one of
19:14
the, the, the educational platforms that are through Oklahoma State that
19:17
are sponsored through HPNRI, that the two that I'm on, one is a sports
19:23
medicine, athletic training, the other one's a strength and conditioning one,
19:26
and there's other ones for physicians, there's other ones for health educators.
19:30
There's all sorts of ones across the state.
19:32
So, it's not just physical therapists and athletic trainers
19:37
that can benefit from some of those.
19:39
But as a physical therapist or athletic trainer, I can't prescribe
19:43
medication, I can't create diets, I can't perform counseling services, and
19:47
I can only get as much experience as I can get in front of me day to day.
19:52
Well, with systems like Project Echo and the HPNRI, I have access to those tools
19:58
those contacts, educational resources, and a support system that basically
20:03
turns into, "I have a guy for that."
20:06
Host: Yes.
20:07
Talk about village.
20:08
Yes.
20:08
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: Yes.
20:09
And that's, I mean, Lance and I have had plenty of conversations along the way.
20:12
The most recent one, he asked me about nutritional resources
20:15
for athletes and whatnot.
20:17
And so, it creates those conversations.
20:20
I've got another mentee of mine that I'm doing through the American
20:25
Academy of Sports Physical Therapy that's actually through Duke Health.
20:30
I'm going to connect him with one of the athletic trainers up at Oklahoma
20:32
State because of a mutual thing that they're looking at that Scott
20:38
Parker has up at Oklahoma State.
20:39
So, that collective community is basically what we're establishing.
20:48
And one of the reasons why I continue to promote it to colleagues, students,
20:53
anybody that's willing to listen is like, "Hey, there are resources out here that
20:58
are beneficial for everything day to day."
21:01
And we all have things we're good at.
21:04
Not everybody's good at everything.
21:05
So, finding out that person that can help you, and being surrounded by those
21:10
people with the same drive, and they want to make the same difference for
21:15
people and that same motivation, just like you had talked about, that's a huge
21:20
force multiplier as to what we can do.
21:23
And the thing about that space and Lance's
21:28
mentality is very contagious.
21:31
Like, his motivation is very contagious.
21:32
Lance Walker, PT, MS: No pressure there.
21:33
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: Well, you've talked about, you know,
21:36
you come into these spaces and some of the different symposiums I've
21:40
gone to and you're like, you know, "I'm the big cheerleader for this.
21:43
I'm the person that gets everybody to talk, and I'm the person that helps
21:46
break down barriers and breaks down these silos so that way we're all in
21:50
the room having the same conversation."
21:52
And that's huge because so many different programs exist in parallel.
21:58
Host: Yeah.
21:59
Yes.
21:59
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: And they may be looking at the
22:00
same thing and trying to study it from different perspectives.
22:04
But if they never talk, we can't solve the problems from both sides of the equation.
22:09
We're only pushing it from our side.
22:12
And that's one of the things that I love about this platform, is because
22:15
you get to see different perspectives.
22:16
You get to see how this is going to benefit not just myself, but my
22:21
patients or colleagues, or even the next generation as this continues to mold
22:27
and develop into something that once the facility gets built and everything,
22:32
future research, anything that comes out of that building is intention to
22:38
help somebody in the state of Oklahoma.
22:40
Lance Walker, PT, MS: And it's the process you talked about that he's part of.
22:44
You know, he's not like this sort of, "I'm going to sit back in the audience."
22:47
He is engaged in the process, right?
22:50
I mean, there was 50 or so on our last sports medicine line from all
22:55
over the state and beyond, right?
22:58
He was in there.
22:58
He's contributing in that community.
23:01
So, he's got expertise that nobody else on the line has.
23:05
And you are able to contribute that nugget when a case is brought forward.
23:10
And they're like, "Holy cow, I need to connect with Zach on something."
23:14
That creation of that village.
23:16
You said community.
23:17
You like to use the word village.
23:18
We're creating a village not just around you, but that you are also sort
23:24
of benefiting the villagers that are in your village with your expertise.
23:28
And so, that engagement, I think, is a big part of how you get—it doesn't
23:32
start necessarily with science.
23:34
It starts with engagement and listening and finding out what's
23:38
working, what's not working.
23:40
Where are the challenges?
23:42
And then, exploring what's working and what's not working.
23:46
And so, some of that is qualitative.
23:48
Hey, well, tell me.
23:49
Some of that is research-based.
23:52
And then, at the end of the day, it's got to get out, right?
23:56
It's got to be mobilized and in a way that can enable a practitioner,
24:00
a coach, an educator, a parent.
24:03
And I think you brought up, you know, Oklahoma State Extension.
24:06
The land grant mission.
24:09
They've been doing that really well—we—for over 100 years.
24:13
So, it's not like we came up with this amazing thing.
24:16
Zach and I were sitting around going, "Hey, let's—" Are you kidding me?
24:19
Oklahoma State is like, you know, gold standard of that.
24:23
We're just following the lead, just taking a little different approach.
24:27
We're not trying to cure it all, get it all.
24:30
Gosh, there's these force multipliers, these folks that are out there, we can
24:35
play a role in that land grant mission, only in a uniquely different way.
24:41
And I think that's the power of what you said.
24:43
So, that process is constantly going on.
24:47
And if it doesn't get it in a position where you can use it,
24:51
you know, it's lacking context.
24:52
I mean, that's where the, you know, like, come on, how do we make it?
24:56
And so, that's where Zach can come in and say, "I need something that I can help
25:00
my nutrition with my patients, because I'll be honest, I don't know how to
25:05
get them to eat right for X, Y, and Z."
25:08
They're going to spend six, eight, 12 sessions with him.
25:13
He can pollinate some of these great practices of eating
25:17
better in that six weeks' time.
25:19
You're kind of a health educator, right?
25:21
Because I know this, when they leave, they go back to their dinner table,
25:27
and they're sitting around eating and they're like, "Hey, you know what?
25:30
My therapist said to eat this, not that."
25:33
I hear it at my own table.
25:37
I used to think I kind of knew what I was doing.
25:38
But my kids will come home and say, "Coach said do this."
25:43
Yeah.
25:43
"My doctor said do…"
25:45
You know, I'm like, "I've been telling you that for 10 years.
25:48
And all of a sudden because your therapist said it, they're an expert."
25:52
Let's give them those tools, because that stays with them, right?
25:56
And so, it's that science that lingers, that practice that lingers, elevates
26:00
and lingers with your clients, with your patients, with your family.
26:05
That's the big deal.
26:07
Host: Well, and I do think, you know, I was new to healthcare before I
26:09
stepped into this role two years ago.
26:11
And so, being here has just been such an illumination of the fact
26:15
that healthcare is a team sport.
26:18
Like, you know, we're all pouring in our own expertise.
26:21
We're trying to navigate things as best we can.
26:23
But if we can have guides along the way, like Zach, who can kind
26:26
of help put the pieces together and help us, you know, find better
26:30
health, then that's such a gift.
26:31
Lance Walker, PT, MS: She said healthcare was a team sport.
26:33
I like that.
26:34
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: We're all athletes too.
26:35
Lance Walker, PT, MS: I mean, that's a hard concept.
26:38
That's a big concept.
26:39
But you're kind of seeing that.
26:40
And it's so cool to see that this performance thing, that's not
26:45
just for people that play sports.
26:48
And I think, for us as practitioners, I want Zach to be a better
26:53
version of himself tomorrow.
26:55
So, take care of yourself too, right?
26:58
I mean, I'm thinking of you need to take care, a servant.
27:01
But you can't serve at your best if you're not at your best yourself, right?
27:07
And so, that's something too that you as a healthcare, you as a provider,
27:11
me as a provider, make sure you're pulling out that one thing, right,
27:15
that can maybe keep you at your best For what matters most to you.
27:20
And I know Zach enough to know it's about serving others.
27:23
That's what matters most to this guy.
27:25
So, that's contagious for me, because I can buy into that, pal, all day long.
27:30
And so, I'm going to make sure that you're at your best for what matters
27:34
most to you, because that lines up just absolutely perfectly with our land grant
27:37
mission, and also the mission of HPRNI.
27:40
Host: Okay.
27:41
Well, we end all of our podcast conversations with the challenge to care.
27:44
So, it's just a challenge to our community to do something for themselves
27:47
or the health of this community.
27:49
What would y'all's Challenge to Care be?
27:51
Zach, you can go first.
27:52
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: So, I'm going to take a page from Lance's playbook
27:55
and says, "What's the one thing that you're really good at or an expert in?"
28:01
So from anybody that's listening to this, the thing to look at is how
28:06
can you use that, the thing that you're really good at or an expert
28:10
in to fill a gap in our community.
28:14
The more we collaborate and see how we help each other, the
28:17
more we can grow as a community.
28:18
So, utilizing the resources that we have or say, "Oh, I'm not good at
28:24
this, but I know somebody who is."
28:26
Being able to fill those gaps, again, helps us establish a better
28:32
community and a better team environment because we're all good at something.
28:37
Host: Absolutely
28:39
Lance Walker, PT, MS: And the one thing, and it's something I try to tell myself
28:43
and we talk about a lot, you probably do this, is don't wait for perfect.
28:49
Host: Yeah.
28:50
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Just take that very next thing and
28:52
find maybe just that one thing.
28:54
What is one thing, one piece of this?
28:56
If I want to get one more degree of flexion today, that's
29:00
what I'm going to focus on.
29:01
I'm going to take one extra stairwell today, you know, I'm going to eat
29:06
one more little serving of vegetables if I can get access, you know.
29:11
I'm going to drink one more glass of water.
29:12
It's something.
29:13
It doesn't have to be I'm going to have the perfect exercise and sleep, and we
29:18
wait for perfect, and all of a sudden, man, three weeks later, we're like,
29:21
"This is impossible to sustain," right?
29:24
Pick that one thing, that one thing that you could do and create a little
29:28
bit of momentum today, and then better.
29:32
Not perfect, not unbelievable, not optimized, not all-inclusive.
29:39
Better.
29:39
And stack those betters day to day.
29:43
That's what elite sport does.
29:46
They do that every day.
29:48
Why can't we?
29:48
Why can't we just adopt that one step better?
29:51
So, that one thing, find it, stack it, and then use it to get to your why.
29:56
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: And the thing to remember on that
29:58
is even the elite athletes aren't at their best every single day.
30:01
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Yeah, it's a great point, Z.
30:03
They're keeping their eye on the prize though, right?
30:05
And it's not a straight path.
30:08
It's kind of a windy kind of a deal.
30:09
Host: It's not getting discouraged when we're in a dip,
30:11
you know, it's keeping going.
30:13
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: I tell my patients that all the time is as long
30:15
as it's moving upward for your progress, you're moving in the right direction
30:19
Lance Walker, PT, MS: And you're moving.
30:20
Yes.
30:21
Host: Yes.
30:21
Lance Walker, PT, MS: That's it.
30:21
You're moving.
30:23
There is no neutral.
30:24
You're either going forward or you're going backwards.
30:26
So, what are you going to choose today?
30:27
I'm going to take a step forward.
30:29
I love that.
30:29
Great job.
30:30
Host: Well, I am so motivated to the day.
30:32
Let's go.
30:32
Thank you guys for being here.
30:34
Thank you.
30:34
You're welcome.
30:34
We really appreciate it.
30:35
Zach Collett, PT, DPT, ATC, MS: Thank you.
30:36
Lance Walker, PT, MS: Thank you for having us.
30:36
Host: Thanks a lot.