Exercise Professionals Survey

💡 Quick Summary

Most people with Parkinson’s increased their physical activity after diagnosis, with notable rises in balance/dual-tasking, strength training and stretching one year later.

Working with trained exercise professionals — such as personal trainers or group instructors — helped people engage in more aerobic, balance, strength and flexibility exercises.

Some groups, including people living with PD for more than three years and those who were widowed, had a harder time finding safe, PD-appropriate exercise programs, highlighting the need for better access and tailored options.

Exercise professionals can be key members of a Parkinson’s disease (PD) care team. It is important to understand best practices for exercise professionals for PD. The Parkinson’s Foundation is building a standard framework for these best practices, which includes looking at how exercise professionals contribute to Parkinson's care teams.

About the Study

This survey was created with a person with Parkinson’s, an exercise physiologist and a physical therapist. It was reviewed by another person with Parkinson’s and two exercise professionals.

59%

of people exercised more after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

30%

of people took part in balance exercises.

14%

of people took part in strength training exercises.

Key Highlights

Most (59%) people exercised more after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

More people said they took part in specific types of exercise one year after a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. These types of exercise were balance and dual-tasking, strength training and stretching. They were all reported at higher rates one year after a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis (30%, 14% and 15% respectively).

Some people were more likely to have a difficult time finding exercise programs that could be safely modified for Parkinson’s disease. This included people who have had Parkinson’s for more than three years and those who were widowed.

Working with a personal trainer or group exercise instructor led to an increase in certain types of exercise. People did more aerobic, balance and dual-tasking, strength training and stretching exercise.