Spreading Awareness of How Motion Impacts Emotion [Podcast Series]
[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Adel Korkor
Dr. Adel Korkor is Founder and CEO of the AB Korkor Foundation for Mental Health.
He is a nephrologist based in Wisconsin.
[1:10] Discovering the linkage between movement and mental health
“So, over time, I really became very, very involved in running. I run every day in my life. And I think by the time I turned 70, I estimated that I've run close to about 25,000 miles. I mean, not to put the numbers really in perspective, it's just that I think what running has really done to my mental health, and my physical well-being.”
[6:35] Starting a foundation addressing movement and mental health
“So the long answer to your question is that this transformation really and the desire to do what I did with my foundation is derived from my own personal experience and from my experience in taking care of patients with end stage renal disease and others who suffer from mental health issues. And also by seeing how the lack of physical activity has impacted their physical health as well.”
[11:07] Finding the root causes of disease
“It's because we are really accustomed to caring for disease, the diabetes, the hypertension, obesity, and all of these. And our healthcare system is really more centric around finding a new treatment for obesity, finding a new drug for diabetes, finding a new drug for hypertension, and not realizing why can’t we get to the root of a problem. Why can't we get back and say okay, you know what, dedicating 15, 20, 30 minutes of physical activity a day can spare us so much more.”
[18:25] Five Fifty Fifty Run/Walk Series
“And then really to bring awareness to the fact that physical activity is un invasive, no side effect, minimal risk is that that that really brings awareness to the fact that those activities really matter when it comes to how you feel every single day.”
[24:09] Foundation initiatives and strategic priorities
“And throughout that period of time, we pretty much offered almost a million dollars that we gave from the Foundation to support those initiatives of assisting individuals to get the mental health certificate. So that's one thing that we're trying to do is really looking at the access to mental health and trying to, mental health care, and trying to improve on that.”
