Objective: To explore the experiences of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) of exercising in a predominantly centre-based physiotherapy program and a remotely-monitored home-based program.

Background: Exercise prescribed and monitored by a physiotherapist improves mobility and enhances quality of life for people with PD. Questions remain about how to best deliver the exercise, with models ranging from fully supervised individual or group exercise at a centre to minimally supervised home-based exercise.  Having a greater understanding of people with PD’s experiences when exercising in different locations, with different amounts of supervision could help physiotherapists to better deliver exercise which is acceptable and sustainable.

Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 community dwelling people with PD who had completed a 10-week exercise intervention. All participants completed 5 weeks of a predominantly centre-based program (two centre-based group sessions and one session of home-based exercise per week). Following this, eight participants continued with this program while nine participants changed to 5 weeks of remotely-monitored home-based exercise (three sessions per week completed at home, with telephone calls in week 7 and 9). The interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.

Results: Preliminary results indicate that people with PD found the exercise satisfying and appreciated that the exercise programs were specific to their condition and their level of impairment.  Participants reported that exercising at the centre with supervision was beneficial as they received feedback on their performance and had an opportunity to socialise with other people who had PD.  When exercising at home participants reported that remote-monitoring and the flexibility to complete the exercise at any time without having to travel was helpful. Maintaining the motivation to exercise at home was difficult for some participants, while others relied on support from family and carers to complete the exercise.

Conclusion: When completing exercise people with PD value prescribed exercises and feedback from a physiotherapist.  There was no clear preference for the location of the exercise.  Exercising at a centre allowed social interaction and exercising at home provided greater flexibility to complete the program.

« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2020

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/experiences-of-people-with-parkinsons-disease-exercising-at-a-centre-and-at-home/