Fort Rucker Wellness Center opens

On Friday, June 17, the Army Wellness Center opened its doors to provide health promotion and wellness.

According to a brochure for the center, it provides "integrated and standardized prevention programs and services that promote enhanced and sustained healthy lifestyles to improve the overall well-being of soldiers and family members."

Commander of Lyster Army Health Clinic Col. Gary Wheeler said the Wellness Center represents the Army's effort to transform healthcare.

"In support of the Army's top priority, which is readiness, Army Wellness Centers are a key effort in Army medicine's goal in improving health and fitness by transforming from a healthcare system to a system for health," Wheeler said.

"We know that engaging healthy habits now will improve readiness and prevent long term, costly diseases later."

Anna Schwartz, director of the wellness center, said the team provides a "holistic approach" to soldiers' fitness and health.

"For the military, that means that we take a holistic approach on primary prevention strategies to elicit healthy behavior changes so that they can be healthy in the long run," Schwartz said.

The facility's staff can measure the physical aspect of an individual's fitness level, such as an individual's cardio-respiratory capacity, muscular strength and flexibility.

"From all those measurements, we can create a specific, individualized program based on the client's needs, their goals and also their environment," Schwartz said.

The wellness center can also determine an individual's body composition and metabolic testing.

"Individuals are going to be more successful if you approach (health) holistically," Schwartz said.

Schwartz said the center is available for all active duty Army, Reserves and National Guard personnel, their dependents, Army retirees and Department of Defense civilian personnel.

A unit commander can provide a referral for a soldier to visit the center, a soldier's medical provider can refer him or her to the center, or an individual can call and self-refer themselves to set up an appointment, according to Schwartz.

"We're here to support individuals to make healthy lifestyle changes," Schwartz said about the center. "It doesn't have to be cold turkey. That's not always effective. You have to make small changes that are going to be something you can obtain and maintain throughout life."