What began as an attempt to manage staff mental health in the wake of the Covid lockdowns, has turned into an annual event designed to focus on the link between physical and mental health.

Viva Physiotherapy teamed up with Prevention United, a charity that focuses on the prevention of mental health issues, to create the event, called Move for Minds.

“The idea of the event is to combine professionally created resources in both the mental and physical health space so to help people train both components of their health side by side,” owner and director of Viva Physiotherapy, Kathryn Anderson, said.

“As physios, we were really concerned at the absolute lack of movement that our patients had in the first long lockdown of 2020,” she said.

“We noticed that our clients' mental health was also poor in that time, although we hadn't yet made the connection that the lack of exercise and reduced mental health may be connected, or they could be nurtured side by side.

“We started it just as a 'fun run' but as we deepened our connection with Prevention United  understood there was a lot more opportunity in our messaging.”

Ms Anderson said while her team knew that physical health problems increased your chance of mental health problems, and vice versa, Prevention United taught them that one the top proven ways to prevent mental health conditions was exercise.

“But even beyond a diagnosable mental health condition, we know that exercise significantly contributes to mental wellbeing,” she said.

“On the flip side for us as physiotherapists, poor mental health can negatively contribute to a person's experience of pain or injury, but also improving mental health can contribute to recovery.”

According to Ms Anderson, Australia’s health system is set up in way that isn’t conducive to the facilitation of a combined mental and physical health approach.

“Our mental health is looked after by different health professionals to our physical health and it's up to the individual to navigate the crossover, which doesn't provide the best outcomes,” she said.

“As a physical health expert, the Move for Minds program has helped me see that my mental health training is significantly lacking, and while the event has motivated me and my team to develop our skills it should be something that's embedded more deeply into our education system and health system.”

The event also raises important funds, starting with around $3,500 in the first year, increasing to $8,300 in 2023.

“We have raised over $25,000 since we started. Where we'd really love to see growth is that, so far, many people have been motivated to get involved by getting behind a good cause, or setting themselves a physical distance to train for, but we'd love for people to truly to see the mental health training side as the core of the program to make that learning experience more rich and useful in the long term.”