Course Description:

Learn to use the PWR!Moves to develop PD-specific, neuroplasticity-principled, personalized therapy and exercise plans adaptable for people with PD of any disease severity.

During your workshop, you’ll learn to use the PWR!Moves curriculum to directly target individual PD symptoms, such as rigidity, bradykinesia, incoordination, and reduced self-awareness. You’ll also learn to train high-amplitude functional skills central to daily activities and quality of life, including posture, weight shifting, spinal mobility, and transitions, all of which are customizable to fit your clients’ needs and ability levels.

To increase retention, automaticity, and generalization, you’ll learn to apply learning techniques within the PWR!Moves curriculum. These techniques, which are situated within Dr. Farley’s Exercise4BrainChange framework, are necessary to promote the changes in neuroplasticity needed for long-term improvement in everyday movement.

You’ll also learn how sharing a common focus on PD-specific skill training across medical and community settings may improve and sustain function, but also may realize additional, complementary benefits that are not always possible in one-on-one settings. These benefits include improved social and emotional wellbeing, increased self-efficacy, and improvement of non-motor symptoms.

Establishing these types of medical and community networks is PWR!’s mission. We hope that, ultimately, therapists and exercise professionals will work together locally to coordinate referrals, build exercise networks, and deliver group classes that meet the needs of all people with PD to create the continuum of care required to reduce functional decline and slow disease progression for people with Parkinson’s everywhere.