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Walking

Walking is a great activity when you’re living with dementia. Here’s why…

A daily walk has many benefits – from exercising in the fresh air and accessing natural light – to boosting your social life and mood

If you’re looking for a cheap, accessible, easy and safe way to stay fit or get active, you can’t beat walking. By building a walk into your daily routine you’ll be adding many health and wellbeing benefits – because after all any exercise that you can do regularly is good exercise.

Walking is available to all, as long as you don’t have mobility problems or any health conditions that might make walking difficult and according to The Ramblers, it’s particularly good activity for people living with dementia. As well as being a physical activity that improves mobility and strength, walking has other positive benefits and may help to slow the progression of dementia symptoms, including memory problems.

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The benefits of walking include:

  • Helps you to manage your weight – which reduces your risk of other illnesses

  • Improves your heart health – and keeps your heart strong

  • Improves bone strength

  • Reduces your risk of Type 2 diabetes

  • Reduces your risk of cancer

  • Boosts mood

  • Increases strength and flexibility

  • Gets you outdoors – improving your immune system

It’s best to speak to your GP about walking and its benefits – and to check with a doctor if you have any concerns about how safe walking is for you.

Wake up and walk

Exercising outdoors before noon is particularly good as it’s been shown that being in natural daylight earlier in the day is beneficial for those living with dementia. A morning stroll can help your brain to understand the difference between day and night, which in turn improves sleep and mood.

Walk with others

Walking and talking with someone else is fun and helps you to stay connected and reduces isolation. Some people living with dementia feel more confident and comfortable walking with others too.

Walk in nature

Being in a natural environment of any kind is a great thing to do for boosting wellbeing and reducing stress. Even a stroll in your local park early in the day can boost your immune system, get your circulation going and improve your mood.

Walk well

You might feel fine to go out for a walk by yourself right now, but some people lose their confidence with walking alone, especially in an unfamiliar area. However, there are some things that will help you to keep walking:

  • Build a morning walk into your routine. Make it a healthy habit to walk after breakfast because walking earlier in the day exposes you to natural light early on, which has benefits for those living with dementia. It’s also advisable to get outdoors sooner rather than later during winter when the opportunities to be in daylight can be limited due to shorter days and poor weather. It’s also safer to walk in the morning during the colder months because visibility is better – falls and trips are more likely in poor or low light.

  • Buy decent footwear for grip and comfort and invest in waterproof outerwear.

  • Ask a friend, neighbour or family member to walk with you for company. If you’d like to find someone to walk with, Age UK has a dementia befriending scheme where they put you in touch with people in your area who might be available to walk with you. Call 0800 678 1602 to find out more.

  • Get ready in advance. Do you need a map, water, snack? Consider the weather and whether you need a waterproof jacket, hat, gloves or sunglasses. Know where your keys, wallet/purse, phone and glasses are well before you leave.

  • Are you walking somewhere familiar, or do you need to plan your route out? Research your route, making note of bus numbers and public transport timetables. If driving, check the route and parking situation in advance.

  • Go online and look up the area you’re walking in if it isn't already known to you. Make a note of potential rest stops and toilets etc. Are the walking paths public and accessible?

You could also consider joining a dementia-friendly walking group. You can search for one here or find a local group via The Ramblers here and chat to others about their favourite walks and walking groups and share walking tips in our discussion forum.