The Importance of Exercise

Exercise is very important and benefits your RA There is a lot of research evidence to show that exercise and being physically active is really beneficial for people with RA.

Shakti hai, toh sehat hai (“If you have strength, you have health”)

Video developedby: the University of Birmingham team: Dr Jonathan Quilan, Dr Kanta Kumar, Vanshika Aggarwal, Afroditi Stathi and Sally Fenton

Moving your body regularly, at any age, is one of the best things you can do for your health. It helps prevent illness, keeps your muscles and bones strong, and makes it easier to stay independent and do the things you enjoy.

But being active isn’t just about walking more. Building strength through simple exercises is just as important, particularly as we get older. But many South Asian women aren’t doing enough exercise, with only half regularly active, and just 1 in 3 doing any kind of strength-building exercises. And this isn’t just about physical health, this inactivity affects wellbeing for the mind too. South Asian women who are less active often feel less satisfied with life, and less connected to a sense of purpose than South Asian men. That’s why the University of Birmingham team created something new.

English

Hindi

As part of the Connect Well study, funded by the British Medical Association Foundation, we teamed up with South Asian women to co-create an animated video that explains why muscle strength matters and how to build it in everyday life. It’s short, simple, and made with community involvement in the heart of it.

Our hope: This video will encourage and empower South Asian women to look after their health in ways that feel right for them. Because when you build strength, you build health.

In addition, NRAS also have a short 15 min. video on Strengthening and Resistance exercises by Ayesha which is dubbed into Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu which you can access below.

Short 15 minute videos on different types of exercise

Here is Joti to tell us about some new exercise videos from our SMILE e-learning program which NRAS has dubbed into Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. Joti is speaking in Punjabi.

Apni Jung Exercise Introduction

Exercise Videos in Hindi →

Exercise Videos in Punjabi →

Exercise Videos in Urdu →

Acknowledgements

In addition to the women who took part in this study to co-create the animated video, the researchers also want to acknowledge and thank some other key partners who made this work possible. Specifically, Mrs Sharda Lavingia and Dr Baljeet Kaur for their support in organising the focus groups. This work was made possible via funding from the British Medical Association Foundation (Pushpa Chopra 2024) and has been delivered through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Finally, we want to thank Max Gregoriou and Jonathan Klug from Beluga Animation for the production of this animation.

The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

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NRAS in 2024

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