The ACTIVITY DIRECTOR'S OFFICE
..
..
| From the pages of ELDERCARE ACTIVITIES GUIDE Kate Lynch, Editor |
| Copyright 2004-PRESENT The Activity Director's Office All rights reserved |
| Regular physical activity improves the quality of life of residents with Parkinson’s disease (Reprinted from the March 2004 issue of ElderCare Activities Guide) By Lorena Tonarelli Activities Guide Research Reporter At least 40% of people with Parkinson’s disease in the US look for alternative therapies in the hope of maintaining their independence and improving their quality of life. This is because most of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are resistant to pharmacological treatments. As research has widely shown, exercise relieves many of the disabling symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, like difficulties in initiating and sustaining movements and maintaining balance, for example. Since your main goal, as a committed activity professional, is to provide all residents with activities that contribute to their well-being and autonomy, your programming should also include activities that are specific to the treatment of residents with Parkinson’s disease. A properly planned exercise program will provide parkinsonian residents with benefits like: • Better movement initiation and coordination. • Improved balance and decreased risk of falls. • Correct posture and proper breathing. • Increased efficacy of medications. Before starting any exercise program with people suffering from Parkinson’s disease, consider that they are unable to perform complex movements that are otherwise automatic for healthy people. Try teaching them to break down complex sequences of movements into smaller parts, which can be memorized and then rehearsed mentally so that the overall movement becomes, in fact, a multi-stepped task. With time, Parkinsonian residents will learn this skill and will be able to perform simple sequences of movements. Here are a few examples of exercises you can begin with, which are important to loosen the tightness of necks, arms, legs, and feet. • Ask patients to lift their arms as far as possible and then slowly lower them back to their lap. • Encourage them to turn their head to the left, look over their left shoulder and turn head to the front. Then, turn head to the right and look over their right shoulder, and back to the front. • While residents are sitting on a chair, ask them to straighten their legs and move their feet in a large circle. • Again while sitting, keeping knees bent, patients swing their feet into the middle and then out to the side. However, you will soon realize that, no matter how hard they try; parkinsonian residents cannot initiate any movement if you do not provide them with some visual clue. Putting white strips of tape on the floor provides that clue and gives a prompt to initiate movements in the confined space of the room where the exercise program is taking place. Walking always represents an excellent way of improving fitness and general well-being. Make sure that your residents walk on a flat surface with no obstacles and encourage them to swing their arms. Count to help them to keep the rhythm if slowness becomes a problem. Alternatively, make residents march lifting their knees as high as possible. On the other hand, as researchers from Loyola University, Chicago, have found recently, Pole Striding - walking with modified ski poles using a movement pattern similar to skiing - improves parkinsonian residents’ cognitive skills, motor function and overall quality of life, But, you must keep in mind that this activity should include at least eight weekly sessions in order to achieve significant results. If you are going to organize cycling, bowls, gym or dancing sessions, as part of an aerobic exercise program, you need to plan these activities for at least 16 weeks. This, according to another study from the US’s University of West Florida, will improve your residents’ ability to initiate and perform appropriate movements. You may also want to develop an activity where music and physical exercise are combined together, which – according to new studies - will benefit parkinsonian residents who struggle with one of the most debilitating symptoms of the disease: muscle rigidity. Remember that you must take some important precautions when working with Parkinson’s patients. • Any complicating factors, like cardiovascular diseases must be checked before starting any exercise program. • Since residents suffering from Parkinson’s disease have a predisposition to fatigue, the best time to exercise is in the morning. • Allow patients to rest at any time if they become tired because excessive physical activity results in the worsening of tremor, the most characteristic sign of Parkinson’s disease. • Be sure that you know how to cope with freezing episodes, during which residents remain still for seconds and sometimes minutes. Taking a step back before starting to walk and rocking gently from side to side helps patients to overcome freezing almost immediately and, if you can organize brief sessions of these rotations on a daily basis, you will be able to observe a long-term effect characterized by a reduction of freezing episodes by approximately 50%. • Always supervise residents properly while exercising, and if they become dizzy, or faint, or have chest pain, stop the activity immediately and call the doctor. Overall, consider that you have a key role in encouraging motivation and will-power in your parkinsonian residents, who continually struggle with feelings of isolation and apathy, and that exercise will become for them a daily routine that contributes to a better quality of life trough enjoyment. |
| Article Sources: Baatile J., Langbein W.E., Weaver F., Maloney C., Jost M.B. “Effect of exercise on perceived quality of life of individuals with Parkinson’s disease”, Journal of Rehabil Res Dev, 2000, Sept-Oct, Vol 37, pp 529-34. Garber C.E., Friedman J.H. “Effects of fatigue on physical activity and function in patients with Parkinson’s disease,” Neurology, 2003, April, Vol 60, Issue 7, pp 119-24. Pacchetti C., Mancini F., Aglieri R., Fundaro’ C., Martignoni E., Nappi G. “Active music therapy in Parkinson’s disease: an integrative method for motor and emotional rehabilitation”, Psychosom Med, 2000, May-June, Vol 62, Issue 3, pp 386-93. University of Northumbria, Newcastle, UK “Guidelines for physiotherapy practice n Parkinson’s disease,” 2002. www.online.umn.ac.uk. [16/02/2004]. VanVaerenbergh J., Vranken R., Baro F. “The influence of rotational exercises on freezing in Parkinson’s disease,” Functional Neurology, 2003, January-February, Vol 18, Issue 1, pp 11-16. Bergen JL, Toole T., Elliot R.G., Wallace B., Robinson K., Maitland C. G. “Aerobic exercise intervention improves aerobic capacity and movement initiation in Parkinson’s disease patients”, NeuroRehabilitation, 2002, Vol 17, Issue 2, pp 161-8. |
| ElderCare Activities Guide (formerly Activity Director's Guide) is a bi-monthly magazine that provides useful activities, calendars, therapeutic activities and programs, feature stories, specialized activities for Alzheimer's patients and other disease conditions, professional news, medical news and much more! Special Internet subscription price: Only $ To order yours today: PHONE: 1-800-354-3371 FAX: 319-553-0644 MAIL: Freiberg Press, Inc. P.O. Box 612 Cedar Falls, IA 50613 ONLINE: http://www.activities4elders.com/ Email: klynch@cfu.net |
| BACK HOME |
