Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/570997
ByLeeAnnWeintraub SpecialforDigitalFirstMedia Werelyregularlyon modern day conveniences such as cars, washing ma- chines, vacuuming robots and restaurant delivery services to make life eas- ier, but they also contrib- ute to sedentary lifestyles. It is easy to blame technol- ogy for making us less ac- tive, but wearable technol- ogy that tracks fitness has the potential to turn some of this around. Fitness trackers are new-generation pedom- eters that sense mo- tion, sync wirelessly with smartphones, measure the user's activity and heart rate and so much more. For people who want to become more active, suc- ceeding at this goal is of- ten based on two factors: motivation and account- ability. Fitness trackers can help with both parts of the equation. Physical activity is im- portant for much more than managing weight. Some of its benefits in- clude lowering the risk of diabetes and certain can- cers, reducing cognitive decline and strengthening bones and muscles. Despite new fitness trends and evolving gov- ernment exercise recom- mendations, one thing that will always be true about fitness is that people should "sit less, move more and get some exercise," ex- plains Jay Blahnik, direc- tor of Fitness for Health Technologies at Apple Inc. Even if you don't have time to work out as often as you would like, mov- ing and standing more throughout the day can help you be healthier and a fitness tracker can help you become more aware of your daily activity pat- terns. This increased aware- ness is key for motivation and becoming account- able for making impactful behavior changes. The use of wearable fit- ness trackers, such as the Apple Watch, Fitbit and Nike+ Fuelband, is becom- ing increasingly popular not only among fitness en- thusiasts and athletes, but with everyday people who are committing to being healthier. It's important to keep in mind that our fitness levels and overall health are not just determined by how much time we spend in the gym, but by how much we move every day. In fact, you may ac- tually be more active and burn more calories on a busy weekend day run- ning errands and walking for transportation than on a school or work day that includes a fitness class or gym time. A study published ear- lier this year in the An- nals of Internal Medi- cine, which looked at the health effects of seden- tary behavior from 47 dif- ferent studies, found that prolonged sitting was as- sociated with a higher risk of dying from all causes. To combat these adverse health effects, the researchers recommend standing for one to three minutes every half hour while at work. They also suggest us- ing smartphone apps or alarms as a reminder to stand up and move. The best way to benefit from the positive effects of mov- ing more is to make them a habit. We know that balanced nutrition and physical ac- tivity together are ingre- dients for a healthy life- style, but Blahnik states that technology is mov- ing very quickly in a direc- tion to allow wearable fit- ness trackers to communi- cate directly with popular nutrition apps, like My- FitnessPal, to help users make food choices in con- junction with their activity level and calorie needs. If you would like to fo- cus on fitness here are some steps you can take: 1. Set two or three spe- cific and realizable fitness goals. Make sure to in- clude details such as fre- quency and time. For ex- ample, I will walk for 20 minutes six days per week. 2. Add movement in the places you spend the most time. Consider the possi- bility of having work meet- ings standing up, using a standing desk at work or standing while on the tele- phone. Engage cowork- ers in a lunchtime walking group. 3. Start using a fitness tracker. There are many options available, so look for one that is convenient for your lifestyle and helps you stay committed to your goals. The right fit- ness tracker can be an ex- cellent source of extrin- sic motivation, which is of- ten needed to initiate and maintain a success physi- cal activity plan. 4. Have fun! Our bod- ies are meant to move so being active should not feel like a chore. Main- taining an upbeat attitude will make staying on track with your plan much more enjoyable. LeeAnn Weintraub, a registered dietitian, can be reached at RD@halfacup. com. EXERCISE Fitnesstrackershavethepotentialtoimprovehealth PHOTOBYANGELAWEISS/FORFITBIT Celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak leads a group workout using Fitbit Charge HR in Los Angeles. By Jake Pearson Associated Press NEWYORK A woman called Emily, tears streaming down her face, stood on a ledge threatening to jump. For 15 minutes, a police sergeant used the common thread that connects them — they're both mothers — to gradually talk her out of killing herself. The scene, played out earlier this month at the New York Police Depart- ment's training facil- ity, was an act, part of a training program meant to help patrol officers in the nation's largest de- partment better handle the growing number of interactions they have with people in emotional or mental distress. "Even though it's a sce- nario, my hands are like this," said a shaking Sgt. Ce- cilia Luckie after talking to ErinShields,theactresspor- traying Emily. "My mouth is dry." Patrol officers like Luckie are often first on the scene to the 911 calls and on-the- street pick-ups of people in crisis — a mother call- ing because her mentally ill son is acting erratically, a person threatening to jump off a building or a homeless veteran acting strangely on a street corner. Police received more than 130,000 so-called "emotion- ally disturbed person" calls last year, about 23,000 more than in 2011, an increase ex- perts say mirrors a national trend resulting from too few supportive housing options and services in the wake of a decades-old deinstitution- alization movement. Advocates for the men- tally ill have long com- plained that hard-charging officers, tactically trained to issue commands and take control, have unnecessarily escalated situations that can sometimes end tragically. Atleastninepeoplekilled by the NYPD since 2007 had mental illnesses, according to Carla Rabinowitz, of the nonprofit Community Ac- cess. But Rabinowitz said more common are interac- tions that leave them with negative views of the police or send them unnecessar- ily to jail, a result reflected by the 40 percent of the city jail population with mental health diagnoses. New York's program is built off a nationally recog- nized instructional model, called Crisis Intervention Training, that uses mental health consumers, profes- sionals and police officials to train officers on how to recognize signs of men- tal illness, respond to such calls and empathize with someone in the throes of a crisis. It emerged in the late 1980s from the Memphis Police Department and is now used by nearly 3,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide. Research has shown its use is associated with higher confidence among officers, better rec- ognition of mental illness and fewer uses of force. Earlier this summer the NYPD launched a four-day program that will be in- corporated into standard training and issued a re- quirement that officers take annual refresher courses, of- ficials said. The department already has a small, highly- trained unit of officers for mental health cases, but the training is meant to give more cops a better chance at deescalating crisis situa- tions. Officers taking part in the training are evaluated in real time by a clinical psychologist and instruc- tors during scenes por- trayed by John Jay Col- lege of Criminal Justice actors like Grant Coo- per, who plays a paranoid homeless man named Rev- erend X screaming into a trash can. For Cooper, it comes from a familiar place: When he was 12 his mother was diag- nosed with schizophrenia. He draws on those memo- ries — including his many 911 calls for help — when he plays his part. "The police had to escort her many, many times," said Cooper, 52. "And she never got hurt. We were lucky. I didn't realize how lucky we were." Cooper simulated some- one high on the synthetic marijuana drug K2, doing backstrokes on the sidewalk as officers stood by, letting him tire himself out before rolling him onto his side, putting him in handcuffs and then an ambulance. More than 270 officers assigned to Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood have already been trained and police officials hope to train 5,500 overall. One of two city mental health drop-off centers, designed to give police an alterna- tive place to send people in crisis besides jail or an emergency room, will open in the neighborhood later this year. "If we get those kinds of responses where people feel they've got more tools in their toolbox, if they feel more confident and if they can respond more appropri- ately more of the time, that's exactly what we want," said Susan Herman, the NYPD deputy commissioner for collaborative policing. In another exercise, for- mer soap opera actor Na- than Purdee, playing a Viet- nam war veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder experiencing a flashback, didn't quite calm down un- til one of the officers on pa- trol talking to him con- vinced him to sit down on a bench and shared a per- sonal detail: He himself was a military veteran and un- derstood what he was going through. "You didn't challenge him," said Det. James Shanahan, one of the in- structors, after the exer- cise ended. "You cared for him." HANDLING CRISES Ac to rs , me nt al ly i ll a id N YC p ol ic e tr ai ni ng m ea nt t o ca lm THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sgt. Cecilia Luckie, le , talks actress Erin Shields, off a ledge during a Crisis Intervention Training class at the New York Police Department Police Academy, in New York. www.redbluff.mercy.org redbluff.mercy.org Lupus/FibromyalgiaSupportGroup 5:30pm-8:00pm 9/15 3 rd Tuesday Columba Jackie Kitchell 529-3029 TCHSA-Public Health Immunization Clinic 2:00pm-4:30pm 9/17 3 rd Thursday Russell Cheyenne Humphrey 527-6824 Living Well w/Better Nutrition 1:00pm-3:00pm 9/23 4 th Wednesday Columba 888-628-1948 redbluff.mercy.org/classes_and_events Living Well w/Diabetes 3:00-5:00pm 9/23 4 th Wed. 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