Practicum and Placement Opportunity
Applications Due: March 27, 2023
Application for On The Move! An Exercise Program for People with Parkinson’s
I am recruiting 3rd or 4th year undergraduates for a unique practicum and placement working with people who have Parkinson’s Disease (PD). This program will provide exercise classes to people with Parkinson's (PwP) to help them deal with the motor and non-motor symptoms of PD AND it will provide you with practical, client-focused training as you learn to design and adapt exercise to individuals' needs. Finally, the program will provide us with an opportunity to evaluate the benefits of the program for PwP, providing you with valuable research experience.
As a member of the On The Move! Team, you will be involved in all aspects of the program, including leading PwP through exercise classes and completing a manageable project related to some aspect of program evaluation. You will also attend a weekly seminar (conveniently scheduled after the exercise class) where you will provide and receive on the spot feedback about the exercise class and review research relevant to our class.
You will be working with people from the community who are relying on this program as part of their overall approach to dealing with PD. For this reason, I need to select people who are smart, committed and reliable. I am looking for about 5 students.
Who is eligible to apply:
To participate in this program, you must
Be eligible to register for PSYC 3801H and PSYC 3802H – prerequisites are 75% in PSYC 2018H and PSYC 2019H and you must have completed enough credits for 3rd-year standing (please contact Liana Brown if you are interested but have taken a different sequence of statistics courses).
Be willing to register for PSYC 3801H in the Fall term and PSYC 3802H in the Winter term (commit for the full academic year).
Possess or be willing to complete CANFitPro Instructor Certification by September 15, 2023. Funding is available to supplement this training if you complete it by September 15 AND if you remain part of the program team until the end of the academic school year (you will be reimbursed up to $500 in April 2024).
Possess or be willing complete CPR/AED certification or recertification by Sept 15, 2023. This is required to be CanFitPro certified.
Be willing to lead, assist, and participate in exercise classes (e.g. dance aerobic, spin classes, boxing bootcamp) that involve high-intensity exercise.
Be organized and have a school/work/sport/life schedule that is flexible enough to allow you to commit to this course.
When & How
If selected, you will register for Psyc 3801H in the Fall 2023 term and Psyc 3802H in the Winter 2024 term. I will be contacting you in June to indicate when our course will be held so you can keep a weekly 3-hour timeslot open as you register for your other courses (it will not conflict with required courses for Psychology or Kinesiology). September/October will be spent in the classroom learning about Parkinson’s Disease, getting specialized training on exercise programming for people with Parkinson’s (PwP), preparing for your role in the exercise classes, and planning a manageable program evaluation project. Exercise classes (1 per week) will begin in October and continue through the end of Winter semester (with breaks at reading week and for your exams in December). From September through April, we will have one 3-hour class meeting per week.
If you have questions about the course, please contact Liana Brown (lianabrown@trentu.ca).
To apply, please complete the following application by March 27, 2023:
Application for On The Move! An Exercise Program for People with Parkinson’s