Review Article
Year: 2018 | Month: November | Volume: 8 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 292-296
Role of Green Exercises to Promote Well-Being in Terminally Ill Patients
Soni Jaiswal
Clinical Psychologist, Student Wellness Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India
ABSTRACT
Terminal illness is incurable disease which cannot be adequately treated and ultimately result into death within a short period of time. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer or heart disease. A patient who has such illness may be referred as terminal patient, terminally ill or terminal. Terminal illness includes various diseases such as, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Cancer, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) etc. Terminally ill patients go through stress and other psychological implications especially those patients who are at final stage of the illness. Studies have reported that they develop depression, anxiety and other mental disorders due to the illness. However they experience poor self-esteem and their overall functioning gets disturbed. To manage these difficulties green exercises can be beneficial. Green exercise refers to physical exercise undertaken in natural environments. Although physical exercises are well documented for physical and psychological health benefits green exercise also positively affects psychological and physical health and well-being. It includes diverse activities (e.g. walking, running, cycling, and swimming). Terminally ill patients can be benefitted more by including green exercise in their routine treatment. This can be helpful to treat psychological distress and other implications. It can be effective in enhancing self-esteem and well-being. This may help in fostering positivity which would improve the quality of life of terminally ill patients.
Key words: Green exercises, Mental health, Well-being, Terminal Illnesses.