The Community Memorial Pre-Habilitation Advantage

Get moving before joint or spine surgery to improve your recovery

Start strong, finish strong – that’s the idea behind Community Memorial Healthcare’s unique Pre-habilitation Program for patients preparing for joint replacement or spine surgery.

Simply put, pre-habilitation means participating in a custom-tailored fitness program throughout the weeks or months leading up to surgery to build strength, enhance mobility, and generally prepare your body for surgery.

“This pre-habilitation program allows patients to start strong before surgery so they can have a great outcome after surgery,” said Kathryn Harada, RN, Community Memorial Orthopedic Patient Care Navigator.

A 2023 study published by the National Institutes of Health found that joint and spine surgery patients who participated in a pre-habilitation, or “prehab” program, often experience a smoother and faster recovery from their procedures.

Building the habit of regular movement is also an important part of recovering from spine or joint surgery. “After surgery, healing is actually improved with circulation,” said Harada. “We always emphasize the importance of movement to prevent blood clots and pneumonia, and circulating blood to the incision site through movement helps patients heal,” Harada says.

Community Memorial’s Pre-habilitation Program takes place at the Community Memorial Wellness & Fitness Center, a spacious gym on the campus of Community Memorial Hospital – Ventura. The Wellness & Fitness Center is a quiet, public gym that offers towel service, locker and shower facilities, state-of-the art strength and cardio equipment, and a friendly, knowledgeable team of fitness and medical professionals.

Patients in the pre-habilitation program benefit by exercising one-on-one with a personal trainer or other gym attendee so they can focus on strength training. Whether the emphasis is on the upper body, core, or lower body, a Community Memorial personal trainer shows how to get stronger and what exercises they should do.

This pre-surgery exercise program also prepares surgery patients by equipping them to push a walker, use a cane, and perform activities of daily living using their new hip or knee. Core strength training helps spine surgery patients by making all the muscles along the spine stronger.

Other benefits to pre-habilitation are emotional and motivational. Harada noted that some spine and joint surgery patients have experienced long-term, often chronic pain, whether it is bone-on-bone pain from a worn out knee or a pinched nerve in their back. “Patients can help manage their pain by strengthening the supporting muscles before and after surgery,” she said.

The Wellness & Fitness Center staff, Community Memorial surgeons, and clinical leaders collaborated to create this best-practice pre-habilitation program. Pre-habilitation is not currently offered by any other hospital or health system in Ventura County.

Patients may join up to eight weeks before their surgery and the fee is just $20. All they need to get started is a form letter from their surgeon or physician that they will bring to the Wellness & Fitness Center located at 2723 East Main Street in Ventura. Patients can work with a personal trainer or another experienced gym attendee. After surgery, pre-habilitation patients get two months of FREE gym access and another visit with a personal trainer. The goal is to encourage people to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle with regular movement following surgery.

“We are here to support our patients on their whole journey,” says Harada. “The process to better health doesn’t end after surgery.”