| Titel: | Mindful Exercise, Quality of Life, and Cancer: A Mindfulness-Based Exercise Rehabilitation Program for Women with Breast Cancer |
|---|---|
| Autor: | Tacon, Anna M. |
| Mediengruppe: | chapter |
| Herausgeber: | --- |
| Zeitschrift: | --- |
| Jahr: | 2008 |
| Band: | --- |
| Heft: | --- |
| Seiten: | 261-269 |
| Sprache: | English |
| Abstract: | A cancer patient's quality of life (QOL) is brutally attacked, so much so, that it has been suggested as being a reason for the steady increases in cancer patients seeking complementary or mindbody therapies to help them cope; indeed, thousands of patients seek unconventional or complementary therapies independent of standard health care. One mind-body program that is increasingly being used with cancer patients is Kabat-Zinn's well known Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) which includes meditation, yoga, and walking. In addition to dealing with the disease process, there is also the formidable task of enduring harsh treatment effects. Side effects such as debilitating fatigue, decline in physical activity, and loss of muscle strength and flexibility are well-known. In an effort to ameliorate such effects, research has grown in the area of using exercise, that is, multiple studies indicate moderate physical activity to be a relatively new therapy for rehabilitating those with cancer. The purpose here is to describe a mind-body or complementary intervention for breast cancer patients which integrates the MBSR with exercise. The guiding rationale is that patients stressed biologically and psychologically with significantly reduced QOL will be compromised in all domains and systems and thus be unable to participate fully in their recovery. Women with breast cancer were selected as the initial population because women with breast cancer are more likely to use complementary therapies than both the general public and individuals with other forms of cancer. The complementary therapies of mindfulness and exercise will be reviewed in this chapter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) |