a new adventure on the inside
A new offering is in the works at the prison. Ask and you shall receive.
A patient of the pharmacist brought up an idea to develop a weekly class for those people, like himself, to help manage his diabetes. The pharmacist brought the idea to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and she was completely on board. Something is definitely needed to better manage those patients with metabolic syndrome conditions.
Type II Diabetes is just one of several conditions that fall under metabolic syndrome. Per the Mayo Clinic, “Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. These conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Having just one of these conditions doesn’t mean you have metabolic syndrome. But it does mean you have a greater risk of serious disease.”
Those with metabolic syndrome conditions tend to be on more medications and have more more medical visits. And if it goes uncontrolled, they can lead to more serious issues.
The limitations in prison to control these issues naturally are multi-fold:
- Not the best access to healthy, fresh foods. No fault to the chef and their kitchen….they are working on a state budget and have to try to get food where they can, for the most people they can at the lowest price they can.
- The canteen is also deft of healthy choices. Many choose to buy soda, sweetened drink mixes, and candy, etc.
- Good sleep is often lacking due to a myriad of reasons: anxiety, stresses/sounds of the environment, past/current traumas, not the best mattress/pillow options. Let’s say no pillow—it’s usually a blanket, or a pillow case filled with clothes.
- Lack of exercise choices that are available to those with more chronic health conditions. Not everyone there is able to run, do burpees, pushups, pull-ups, chest press the picnic table (or each other), or play sports (soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis, handball, and now pickleball).
- And due to the above reasons digestive issues run amok. Pain relievers also shift the digestive tract, and thus may cause constipation or acid reflux.
So, this patient insightfully suggested a weekly class for those that are unable to exercise in the way that the yard permits. The class is expected to offer more access and new ideas for these incarcerated individuals to be able to take agency back into their health care. It’s also his desire to have healthy eating option ideas or to make changes in the canteen to offer healthier choices.
In the future, via the CMO, the pharmacist, possibly other medical staff and us PT’s, we’ll be teaching weekly exercise classes.
Just about the time the idea came to our attention, I asked my colleagues at International Association of Yoga Therapists where I might procure yoga mats for a program at the prison. They alerted me that the application submissions had just opened up at Give Back Yoga Foundation for their annual mat program.
I applied that night with a description of our program, and an ask of 25 mats. By the following Monday, I received an email alerting me that our program had been accepted.
I’ll be teaching therapeutic yoga, to include mindful breath practices in the style that I have come to adopt, given my background. Others on the team will teach from their backgrounds and exercise preferences.
It’s my hope (and what I submitted in the application) that we’ll be tracking metrics to demonstrate success (or not) of the program. I’m interested to know if after a 8-12 week program, will there be changes in vitals (BP, HR), as well as blood glucose. I would also likely have them fill out a quality of life, Quality of Life Scale (QOLS) and depression measure, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to see how these metrics change.
I learned of our acceptance to be rewarded the 25 Lululemon mats in mid February. Received the mats in late March. And now we wait, as is often the case with anything at the prison. I’ll keep you posted as things get underway…….
*just to note, I’ll be leaving out the name of the institution that I work at. It’s a state prison for reference. Images are not from the prison as no devices are allowed in.
Prison PT 
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