Managing blood pressure, getting active, finding joy
March 8, 2024
One day last fall, Alice Dent was watching TV when she saw something that made her get up, grab her phone and snap a photo of the screen.
It was a commercial about the YMCA’s Blood Pressure Self-monitoring program (BPSM). Dent called the number on the screen right away.
“That was the door opening for me,” said the 71-year-old Denver resident.
She enrolled in a virtual offering of the 4-month program and began meeting with YMCA Healthy Heart Ambassador Hazel Urbaniak to learn about what causes high blood pressure and what she could do to manage it.
“This program is amazing”
With guidance from Urbaniak, who is also a YMCA group fitness instructor and Lifestyle Coach for the YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), Dent got into the habit of checking her blood pressure regularly and tracking her readings.
“Hazel was a huge support and inspiration for me,” Dent said. “Her knowledge and support helped me see blood pressure in a whole different way. Instead of just thinking I’m older and that’s the way it is, I learned that there are many things that affect your blood pressure.”
Dent changed some of her eating habits and began reading food labels and noticing ingredients like sodium and sugar. She also gained a new appreciation for the role of stress management in her overall health.
The BPSM program equips participants with strategies and tools for preventing and managing stress. Now, when Dent has stressful moments, she is able to sit back, take a few deep breaths and go back to the matter at hand.
“Hazel could draw out my true feelings, and I felt comfortable,” she said. “This program is amazing.”
“Everybody is like a little community”
A benefit of participating in YMCA health programming was that Dent became a member of the YMCA – a community she never knew how much she needed.
“From the moment I walked in the door, I felt comfortable,” said Dent, who hadn’t been certain she would feel like she belonged. “People were friendly and kind. Everybody is like a little community … it’s just great.”
Dent, who said she used to live a sedentary lifestyle, now works out at the Y three times a week.
“It made me feel safe to come and work out with everyone else,” she said, “because we’re all here for the same reason – to be healthier and just feel better.”
Dent also joined the Diabetes Prevention Program – a year-long, small-group program developed by the CDC, which the YMCA of Metro Denver offers in-person and virtually, in both English and Spanish.
“This has been one of the best experiences I’ve had in a long time,” she said.
“I enjoy living again”
For the past three years, Dent needed a walker to move around. Now, she uses only her canes.
“I’m more mobile now than I’ve been in years,” she said. “There have been major changes for me since I’ve been in this program.”
With health conditions that affect her mobility, she spent a lot of time sitting. But through the Y’s help, she got her blood pressure under control, achieved a better body weight for herself and gained a new community of support.
These days, she feels more relaxed, more confident and a lot more like moving her body.
“I enjoy living again,” she said, tears coming to her eyes. “The sedentary life that I was living is not who I am.”
Dent wants to spread the word about the Y as a place of belonging for all.
“Go to the YMCA’s website and check it out, so you can get into a program like this and feel better,” she said. “I don’t know where I’d be today without the Y.”
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