14 · SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2019 TRIB TOTAL MEDIA
IMPORTANCE OF EXERCISE
STOCK.ADOBE.COM
Walking for even 30 minutes a day can yield physical, mental and emotional benefits to help fight against developing issues that the stress of being a caregiver can lead to.
PREVENTATIVE MEASURES
Walking can benefit caregivers on a variety of different levels
You have to take care of yourself, too.
It’s something caregivers hear often, and
always agree with, but in practice it can be
difficult.
Not everyone has the luxury of being able
to schedule a weekly massage or go take a
yoga class or the gym.
What most people can do, however, is step
out the front door and go for a walk. Even 30
minutes a day can yield physical, mental and
emotional benefits and help stave off some
of the negative issues for which caregivers are
often at risk.
“(Caregiver self-care) is so important,”
said Dr. Heidi S. Donovan, who works in the
behavioral oncology program at UPMC Hill-man
Cancer Center and recently completed a
trial in which they conducted an eight-week
intervention assessing caregivers of patients
with malignant brain tumors.
“We know that it’s very hard for caregiv-ers
to do, but there’s a lot of good evidence
out there, especially in situations that are
chronic, that over time one of the biggest
risks is that the caregivers can become pa-tients
themselves.
“We know they ignore preventive care, fall
off from their normal activities of exercising
and eating well. We know their stress levels
and hormones are elevated, and they’re at
risk either for getting a chronic disease them-selves
or having that disease get worse over
the course of their caregiving. We know it
BY KAREN PRICE
FOR TRIB TOTAL MEDIA