TRIB TOTAL MEDIA SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2019 · 7
If you go...
Delay the Disease is offered at a number of sites around
Western Pennsylvania. Below is a list. For more information,
visit delaythedisease.com.
Town Site
Aliquippa Beaver Healthcare and Rehabilitation
Center (Guardian)
Bellevue Parkinson Foundation of Western
Pennsylvania
Bethel Park AHN Cool Springs
Bridgeville Country Meadows of South Hills
Butler Butler Family YMCA PFWPA
Butler Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers
Cranberry Twp. Rose Schneider Family YMCA
Cranberry Township PFWPA
Grove City Grove City YMCA
Indiana Scenery Healthcare and Rehabilitation
Center (Guardian)
Jefferson Hills Jefferson Hills Healthcare and
Rehabilitation Center (Guardian)
Kittanning Richard G. Snyder YMCA
Mercer Coolsprings Fitness
North Huntingdon Redstone Highlands
Scottdale Scottdale Healthcare and
Rehabilitation Center (Guardian)
Sewickley Sewickley Valley YMCA
Upper St. Clair Jeannine Hartman, Westminster
Presbyterian Church
Harmar Healthsouth Harmarville
Rehabilitation Hospital
Wexford Pine Community Center
GETTING ACTIVE
smaller, handwriting becomes smaller,
the speaking voice becomes quieter.
Part of the program involves making
big movements in order to retrain the
brain and force it to break the habit of
being small.
Each class begins with a warm-up,
then moves into some type of cardio
exercise to get the heart rate up.
Then they do what they call Delay
the Disease brain work that will help
reprogram the brain to talk louder, take
a bigger step or whatever symptom
they’ve targeted that day.
“If we’re talking about gait or walking
better, we’ll have gait drills to improve
stride or practice balance postures
while you’re walking,” he said.
They follow that with some traditional
core and strength work, then
repeat the whole sequence another two
to three times before a cool-down that
often includes working facial expressions
and speaking.
They only train individuals with an
exercise background to become Delay
the Disease instructors, and part of the
training includes teaching instructors
how to build relationships with clients.
The social aspect of the class is almost
as important as what they’re teaching
in the exercises, Russell said.
“This might be their only social outing
of the week,” she said. “There are
all sorts of studies about how to stay
young and fight aging, not just Parkinson’s,
and the importance of staying
socially engaged. We’ve got that part,
because it’s a party. Who wouldn’t
want to come to that? That’s what we
teach is that it’s not just about what
you’re doing but how to give someone
the experience so that they come back
every week.”
In fact, when Zid and Russell started
with their first small class back in 2005,
one of the earliest results their patients
reported was an improvement in their
mental health. Depression and anxiety
started to ease alongside the physical
symptoms.
At times, they’ve also offered care
partner seminars to address the issues
facing family and loved ones caring for
Parkinson’s patients.
They talk about managing stress, the
importance of caring for oneself and
the fact that it’s OK to hate the disease
and the changes it has caused.
They also teach things that caregivers
can to do at home to help their loved
ones.
“We teach them different exercises
and movements they can do at home
to help with things like getting off the
toilet, getting up off the floor if they
fall, getting out of a chair and getting
out of the car,” Russell said.
“It’s like a rainbow to them to know
they can do something at home to help
their loved one but also help themselves.”
Ideally, Zid said, patients should be
doing some sort of exercise every day,
and they recommend classes as often as
a patient as able.
Patients need not worry about their
current physical state, Zid said. There’s
no need to get in shape in order to start
coming to class, and it’s never too early
to start.
It’s also never too late to change, Russell
said.
“It’s a matter of starting it and saying,
‘I’m not going to let this disease control
me,’” she said. “‘I’m going to control
it.’”
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