The PACE Healthy-Steps 2008 pilot study was recently named one of the top three clinical projects at the 2009 University of Missouri-Columbia Health Sciences Research Day. The Healthy-Steps pilot study won second place, earning a certificate and a cash prize. Jean Krampe, RN and Laura Dowell, PT conducted the pilot to learn if dance-based therapy could affect the balance and gait of PACE Participants.
Study results showed that dance therapy could improve function. In addition, 100% of study participants said they would recommend this program to others. As a result, an Alexian Brothers Ministry Grant was given to Jean and Laura to make Healthy-Steps sessions available to all PACE Participants. Healthy-Steps sessions are held weekly.
To find out more, or to be involved contact Laura Dowell, PT, or Jean Krampe, RN at (314) 771-5800
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By Sharon Mulcahy Instructor for Healthy-Steps A 70 year old woman joined my class. She was very quiet and apprehensive upon entering the room. She filled out the medical form and I learned that she had a Lumpectomy and had recently completed Chemotherapy. She was welcomed by all and we began the exercises. As time progressed she becomes more at ease and I could see a smile beginning to form on her face. During the second part of the class, she really seemed to come alive as we did our dance routines. At the end of the class, we joined hands and made our circle. I always ask the ladies, if they wish, to share with the group what the class has meant to them this session. When it was her turn, she started to cry. She shared with the group that she and her husband were Ballroom dance teachers for the past 20 years. When she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer she felt her life was over...that she would never dance again. After her surgery and treatments, she went into depression and cut herself off from family and friends (Sherry, all I could think of was your Mom). One of the nurses at the Cancer Center where I hold my classes told her about the Healthy-Steps program and told her to give it a try. She said her initial reaction was a negative one.
The morning of the class she woke up and on impulse thought she would just 'check it out'. She shared with us that being able to dance once more, laugh and enjoy the 'togetherness' of the group had given her new hope. She said she felt she had her life back. She told all of us that she felt a miracle had happened to her in coming to the class. We all shed tears of joy with her. She comes every week and she truly is like 'a new person'. Sherry, thank you for giving me the necessary skills through the Lebed Method, to make this happen in the lives of those who have been changed because of Cancer.
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Article by Meg Hagerty
Posted: Monday, November 9,2009 2:00 am
Grooving to the disco beat of "We Are Family," the enthusiastic group of about 16 "sisters" boogied away their health concerns during the weekly "Healthy Steps" program at Glens Falls Hospital.
Still, that was nothing compared to their award-winning performance of Steppenwolfs "Born to Be Wild," in which they wielded white craft-foam "guitars" with black plastic necks, or "You Send Me,"which earned them an honorable mention. The class of mostly cancer survivors recently earned national fame for dance and music videos entered into a contest sponsored by the National Healthy Steps program.
Vickie Yattaw, coordinator of the Glens Falls Hospital Healthy Steps program and a nurse in Oncology
Education and Support Services, chose to choreograph moves to "Born to be Wild" because it's a song she uses during her own workouts.
"Having that song sort of says something to me, so I started fooling around with some movements. It's
whatever moves me," Yattaw said.
Although Yattaw hadn't seen other Healthy Steps entries, she thinks it was the fun props and the way the moves were put into a routine that clinched the win for the group.
Yattaw and co-instructor Laurie Hughes regularly put together gentle stretching movements in a free
weekly class, based on the Lebed Method, that increase range of motion and simulate massage and exercise to help reduce the incidence of lymphedema, or swelling, in women after surgery or in treatment for cancer.
The class has proved beneficial for people who have other issues, too.
"It helps more than just cancer patients. Anybody who wants to get back into exercise, strengthening,
balance - that doesn't want to do the whole strenuous gym workouts, it's just a fun stretching exercise
program," Yattaw said.
Jean Baulsir, 78, learned about the program through the Wellness Center at the hospital. She is a 38-year breast cancer survivor and 3-year uterine cancer survivor and gains relief for her arthritis and fibromyalgia through "Healthy Steps."
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"It absolutely eases up on the pain. My pain level when I came in was about an eight (on a scale of one to 10), and now I'm down to about a four," Baulsir said.
She has been taking the class for 18 months and finds that not only does she benefit from the stretching she learns about hospital cancer program updates from Yattaw.
The Healthy-Steps program was started at the hospital five years ago thanks to oncology unit nurse Pat Spencer Cizek, who learned about the national program and introduced it to Glens Falls. Cizek has since moved to a different position in the hospital and Yattaw took over a year and a half ago.
Though the class promotes exercise and wellness, friendships have been forged along the way. The women don't focus on their illness during the hour as ifs a time to laugh and stretch.
"Each week after class, they get their coffee and they sit for like a half an hour. The camaraderie is one of the biggest things we like to promote in this class," Yattaw said.
Cheryl Patnode, who has later-stage breast cancer, strutted, shimmied and giggled during a recent class. Having undergone repeated surgeries to remove the lymph nodes under her arm, she now wears a compression sleeve on her left arm for her lymphedema.
She said the movements of the class, combined with the compression sleeve help the lymphatic fluid to drain. For her, the Healthy-Steps class is a lifeline, especially now that she is having recurring health problems.
"It's a lifelong commitment, fighting for your health, and this class does it not only physically but
mentally, " Patnode said.
Hope to hear from you,
Yours in Healthy
Sincerely,
Sherry Lebed Davis
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