Discussion 2

For the middle-aged adult, exercise can reduce the risk of various health problems. Choose two at-risk health issues that regular physical exercise and activity can help prevent and manage. Discuss the prevalence of each of these health problems in society today. Describe measures that you would take as a nurse to assist clients with health promotion measures to incorporate exercise and physical activity into their lives. Include the kind of activities you would recommend, the amount of exercise, and the approach you would use to gain cooperation from the client. Support your response with evidence-based literature.

Reply 1

Two at risk health issues that exercise can help with: Heart Disease & Type 2 Diabetes

• Prevalence: 
  • Heart Disease – leading cause of death in US, 1 person every 37 seconds dies from CV disease, 647,000 Americans die each year: 1 in every 4 deaths (CDC, 2020a).
  • Diabetes – 34.2 million (10.5%) total; 26.8 million adults (CDC, 2020b).
• RN to assist with health promotion measures (Bradley University, n.d.) – providing education especially if the condition is “borderline” and can be prevented. Nutrition and exercise, refraining from unneeded/illegal drugs, or excessive alcohol can help prevent many diseases, especially when at-risk patients are identified. Nurses could also provide brochures with suggestions for patients to refer to. Lastly, helping a patient find the help they need could just give them a boost (gyms with prices, stores to purchase equipment, attending support groups.
• Types of activities(CDC, 2020c) – aerobic (walking, riding a bicycle, dancing) and muscle-strengthening (crunches, squats, free weights)
• Amount of exercise(CDC, 2020c) – Aerobic (walking) for 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week or trying to get a total of 150 hours in per week in different increments and 2 days of strengthening exercises.
• Approach to gain cooperation– (CDC, 2020c) 
  • As an adult that does not like to exercise, I found that exercise videos, no longer than 20-30 minutes helped get me motivated so finding some DVDs or YouTube (free) videos may help.
  • Asking family members or friends to join in to motivate everyone; or join a gym. If money is an issue, sometimes health insurance offers free or discounted rates for gyms.
  • Encouraging a person to take it one day at a time and increase the amount of time spent each day is a motivation; provide reassurance that if you skip a day or two here and there, it’s okay.
  • Write down a schedule to follow, it helps with compliance.

References

Bradley University. (n.d.) The positive role nurses can play in preventative health care. Retrieved from https://onlinedegrees.bradley.edu/blog/the-positive-role-nurses-can-play-in-preventative-health-care/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020a). Heart disease facts. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020b). National diabetes statistic report. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics/statistics-report.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fdiabetes%2Fdata%2Fstatistics-report%2Findex.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020c). Physical Activity Prevents Chronic Disease. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/infographic/physical-activity.htm#:~:text=Regular%20physical%

Reply 2

obese (Flegal, Graubard, Williamson & Gail, 2018). Obesity is one of the leading causes of preventable death and is related to conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc. Heart Disease kills about 610,000 people a year in the United States which makes up roughly 25% of total deaths (Flegal, Graubard, Williamson & Gail, 2018). Physical activities are effective primary and secondary preventions for many preventable diseases such as those mentioned above. Lack of physical activity is a modifiable risk factor to these diseases and is something that nurses can easily encourage their patients to perform. It has been well documented regarding the benefits of physical activity; “increase levels of physical activity and fitness were found to have reductions in relative risk (by about 20%-35%) of death” (Hales, Carroll, Fryar & Ogden, 2017). Hales, Carroll, Fryar & Ogden (2017) found that recent literature suggests that physical activity was associated with greater than 50% reduction in risk factors. Nurses should start by encouraging regular physical activity. Start slow, and advance as tolerated. Patients shouldn’t overexert themselves especially when their condition limits their circulation and inhibits the flow of oxygen to the body. Flegal, Graubard, Williamson & Gail (2018 suggests that people should “work [their] way up to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or an equivalent mix of the two each week” (para. 2). With a combination of diet and exercises, patients can lose weight and keep it off, reducing their likelihood of becoming overweight. In return, this will also reduce the likelihood of developing obesity-related illnesses as mentioned above. Not only will physical activity reduce the likelihood of developing these diseases, physical activity can also help manage the condition and reverse some of the symptoms. For example, regular physical activity can help control blood glucose levels (Flegal, Graubard, Williamson & Gail, 2018). Weight-bearing exercises, especially resistance exercises, has the greatest effect on bone mineral density, hence, reducing the risk for osteoporosis (Hales, Carroll, Fryar & Ogden, 2017).

References

Flegal, K. M., Graubard, B. I., Williamson, D. F., & Gail, M. H. (2018). Excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity: An evaluation of potential bias.

Hales, C. M., Carroll, M. D., Fryar, C. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2017). Prevalence of obesity among adults and youth: United States, 2015–2016.