1 of 1

Doctor of Physical Therapy Students Provide Online Exercise Classes

for the Michigan Parkinson’s Foundation

Jamie Haines, PT, DScPT, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy

Mary Sue Lanigan, CEO, Michigan Parkinson’s Foundation

Summary

Partners

History of the Partnership

Acknowledgements

Goals of the Partnership

Benefits to CHP

Parkinson's disease is a leading neurodegenerative condition that results in eventual loss of independence and function. The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program partnered with the Michigan Parkinson’s Foundation (MPF) to provide online exercise classes for people with Parkinson's Disease (PD). Three DPT students, volunteer to lead Saturday online exercises to help the MPF reach their goal of providing evidence-based exercise classes six days a week.

Benefits to the Community

Jamie Haines, Assistant Professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program. Primary role: mentor, trainer, and supervisor of DPT students to provide exercises online on Saturdays at 10 am. DPT students have been involved since the inception in Summer 2020.

Mary Sue Lanigan, CEO of the Michigan Parkinson’s Foundation. The MPF is a non-profit organization that provides resources and education to people with PD across the state of Michigan.

�

Access to in person exercise classes for people with PD ended abruptly (March 2020) due to the COVID-19 pandemic and state mandated closures.
MPF reached out to PTs with expertise in PD to find ways to provide daily online exercise classes. Dr. Jamie Haines began teaching classes weekly online. The MPF wanted to expand classes to include Saturdays, and Dr. Haines began to include interested students in teaching classes on Saturdays. The MPF was supportive to bring in students to their organization for this purpose.
Students began working with Dr. Haines in Summer of 2020 and have continued to offer Saturday classes, even while students are on final clinical internships.
Dr. Haines continues to train interested students each year as current student graduate.
Both Jamie and Mary Sue see this project as highly sustainable and hope to continue to provide this service indefinitely.
The MPF provides virtual platform and technical support at no cost.

Provide continued online access to exercise for people with PD
Provide mentorship to DPT students with an interest in working with people with people with this disease
Provide hands on experience for DPT students to utilize skills and knowledge to serve the community
Help students gain appreciation for the importance civic engagement and community partnerships

The Mission of the Michigan Parkinson’s Foundation is “To educate and provide direct patient support to people affected by Parkinson’s disease…including the goal to provide programs and service that help people with PD maintain an optimal quality of life.”

This partnership helps the MPF reach their goal to provide six days of online exercise classes to help those with PD to fight the progression of the disease.

Mary Sue reports that those in the community utilizing this service find the student classes energizing, fun, and challenging. They appreciate that students want to volunteer their time. Participants provide feedback and enjoy the role they play in being a part of the education process of the future DPT students.

There are over 35,000 people living with PD in Michigan alone. Dr. Haines’ goal is to prepare physical therapy students to provide excellent, evidence-based interventions to help people with PD fight the progression of the disease throughout Michigan and beyond.

Partnering with MPF has provided an experiential learning activity that cannot be replicated in the classroom. Students develop communication, organization, and collaboration skills in a non-traditional and unique format not generally learned in our program.

In addition, when recruiting for our program, we can proudly recognize this partnership and our commitment to serving the local community as part of our mission at the department, college and university levels. The DPT program, College of Health professions, and CMU is recognized as a leader in developing the next generation of clinicians to serve this population.

We would like to recognize those people with PD who attend the exercise sessions, provide valuable feedback to our students and allow us to travel with them on their PD journey. We had permission from our participants to include their pictures.