Insights for the AFL Quarantine Hub

As professional sport is an essential workplace, for it to continue to operate extra measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of the players, their families, the staff and of course the community.

In addition to the Daily Health Check (as mentioned here), over at the AFL Quarantine Hub, Bodycare’s (MOHR’s sister company) very own Dr James Stewart has been appointed the resident Health Hub Doctor.

Dr Stewart is an absolute champion of a guy and has done a fantastic job at keeping everyone healthy and safe within the Hub! We sat down with James to find out what he’s been up to – check it out below.

James, tell us about yourself.. where do you normally practice?
I’m a General Practitioner from Gympie Queensland. For the last few weeks I have been working as the in house Doctor in the AFL Quarantine Hub looking after the teams and families.

Do you have any particular interests in the health field?
Yes I do, my main interests are in lifestyle medicine and sport.

What do you love most about being a doctor?
Easily the best thing about being a doctor is helping people and changing people’s lives. However, this can be as equally frustrating because if people don’t want to help themselves then ultimately what I can offer has minimal benefit.

Being a health professional, what are your main takeaways from the last couple of months?
The main takeaway from the COVID-19 situation has been that mental health is as equally important as physical health. I always say to my patients that a healthy mind leads to a healthy body and vice versa – we must care for both. I truly believe that people should talk about meditating like they talk about going to the gym; or going to see a psychologist like going to see a doctor, physio or going for a massage.

What advice have you been giving people while they are in the Quarantine Hub – either COVID related or just general health advice?
My main advice in the Hub has been to stay active and eat well. In fact, this would be my advice to anyone in quarantine. As I mentioned earlier, a healthy body = a healthy mind. It’s important that people stay active, whether that be from doing in house exercises or going outside for a walk.

The pandemic has affected the way people work out, but there are a lot of alternatives available other than going to the gym. For instance there are so many YouTube clips and apps available that offer 30-40mins workouts with no equipment.

In addition to exercising, a healthy diet is also critical. We all have more time than ever to prepare and cook healthy meals and food prep for week so we should take advantage and ensure that we are nourishing our bodies with healthy food.