[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/MartinGinis.jpg” caption=”Get in Motion is a free Canada-wide physical activity tele-counseling service for people with spinal cord injuries. File photo.”]You're confined to a wheelchair with a spinal cord injury, and you want to get some physical activity into your life. But who to go to for advice?

Get in Motion, a free Canada-wide physical activity tele-counseling service, has been launched for that very reason — to give people information and ongoing telephone support. It is the first telephone service of its kind.

More than 50,000 people in Canada are living with a spinal cord injury.

“It doesn't matter whether the person is inactive, somewhat active, or very active,” says Kathleen Martin Ginis, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University, and director of Get in Motion. “The counseling sessions are created to meet individual needs.”

Martin Ginis says typical calls would provide information about the safety and benefits of physical activity, overcoming barriers to physical activity, finding accessible physical activities in the community, or goal setting.

Counsellors cannot give medical advice or specific exercise prescriptions, says Martin Ginis, but they can help find someone who is qualified to do so.

Get in Motion's toll-free help line is 1-866-678-1966. It is operated from McMaster's Department of Kinesiology, and supported by the SCI Translational Research Network in partnership with the Rick Hansen Foundation.

More information about the service can be obtained by e-mailing motion@mcmaster.ca.