MOVE! for HEALTH: Student Run Exercise Class �for People with Neurologic Conditions
�A. Duley, J. Baase, M. Anderson, M. Kulik, Z. Minwalla, B. Griffith, Physical Therapy Program
Beth Birgy, Owner, MP Fit Club
History of the Partnership
In Michigan, Parkinson's Disease affects over 35,000 people and 15,000 are afflicted with MS. Access to low cost, expert exercise classes for these populations is rare in rural Michigan.
The Doctor of Physical Therapy Program (Dr. Jamie Haines) has partnered with MP Fit Club to provide access to low/no cost exercise to people with neurologic conditions and their care partners in the local community. The goal of the partnership is to provide low/no cost exercise to the community, especially those impacted by Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis.
Benefits to the Community
- The MOVE! class has been a part of the DPT program since its inception in 2017. Originally housed in the CHP, the exercise class outgrew the space and access to equipment. Dr. Jamie Haines reached out to Beth inquiring if she would be willing to rent out space for a weekly exercise.
- Beth has a long history of community involvement within Mt. Pleasant and emphatically agreed to offer free space and access to all gym equipment. She was instrumental in providing introduction to her space, equipment and adaptations for the equipment, technical equipment such as music and headphones, and her cleaning protocol.
- When asked why she paired up with MOVE!, Beth stated: "I love my community. Being able to give the gift of exercise to people who are living with neurologic conditions lets me give back. Anytime we [MP Fit Club] can promote the benefits of exercise to all people, I'm in!"
- The first MOVE! class at MP Fit Club was held on October 6th, 2021 with 9 community participants attending.
- Provide high quality, disease-specific exercise for people with neurologic conditions and their care partners in the Mt. Pleasant and surrounding areas for low/no cost
- Develop DPT student clinical skills, leadership, and advocacy through experiential learning by serving the local community
- Fulfill the DPT program, College of Health Professions, CMU, and MP Fit Club mission by serving the local community
- MOVE! has created an opportunity for those in the area with neurologic conditions and their care partners to participate in evidence-based exercise classes for free
- Our community participants meet and work with DPT students weekly to establish and build concrete relationships
- Providing a fun, safe, and interactive exercise environment for community participants encourages them to continue to MOVE! for their health
- Community participants openly communicate their goals/condition with DPT students and faculty leader for more purposeful creation and application of activities through each exercise class
- When asked why she comes to MOVE! BH, one of our participants, stated: "We love exercising with the students. They are so fun and energetic, and they make me want to work hard at exercise. We wish the program was more than once a week! We like knowing we are contributing to their education – something good comes out of me having Parkinson's Disease!"
We would like acknowledge Dr. Ferguson, Director of the Carls Center, for permission and direction to continue this program safely following COVID protocols. We would also like to acknowledge our incredible community partner Beth Birgy for welcoming us with open arms into her facility, the SPTs who volunteer at each class, and Dr. Jamie Haines and her third-year students for passing along the torch to the second year MOVE! leaders to keep this program going. Lastly, we would like to acknowledge the dedication, smiles, hard work, and high energy our community participants bring to each MOVE! class! All photos taken and used with permission.
- Dr. Jamie Haines is the faculty mentor to student leaders of the MOVE! For HEALTH class.
- Six 2nd-year physical therapy students are responsible for creating exercise activities, recruiting and training/educating volunteers, setting up/cleaning up the facility, and advertising classes.
- Beth Birgy (pictured bottom left), owner of MP Fit, provides free access to her gym and equipment. She provides instruction for equipment and adaptations, provides all cleaning protocol items, and advertises for the class in the community.
MOVE! gives DPT students the chance to actively incorporate their current studies on neurologic conditions and rehabilitation to provide quality, evidence-based care in a real-world setting by:
- Developing rapport and strong relationships with community participants to further improve their clinician-patient communication and interaction skills
- Physically implementing their safe-patient handling skills and guarding techniques throughout each exercise class
- Challenging their clinical ability to create specific, salient activities for neurologic conditions
- Identifying when regressions and progressions of activities for community participants must be made in a safe and efficient manner to optimize health benefits
- Delegating tasks/roles while providing background on the foundations of neurologic rehabilitation to 1st year physical therapy student volunteers