health issues that exercise can help with

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.