Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

A trend in seniors' fitness is the emergence of specialty-population exercise classes, such as exercise classes for individuals diagnosed with Parkinson's disease or related disorders. While research on physical gains may demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs, I will explore the assumptions regarding the psychological tolls and/or benefits of these programs. One might assume that these specialty classes may lead to greater psychological safety and to better social supports than general senior's fitness classes, since there is a built in social support network. However, does an individual representing a sub-population (e.g. young-onset or related conditions) or minority gender (men with breast cancer) feel marginalized? How does someone who is newly diagnosed cope with seeing others whose symptoms are more advanced and does this become a barrier to participating? The aim of my research will be to address these questions.