Finding your Feet with Parkinson's

The University of Wolverhampton, is set to deliver two ‘Finding your Feet with Parkinson’s’ courses, designed to increase confidence in movement and physical activity, reduce fear of falling and thus promote increased likelihood of engagement with physical activity generally by people with Parkinson’s.

The project in partnership with British Judo Association, WLV Sport and academic staff from the School of Sport, follows the successful bid, funded by the Parkinson’s UK Physical Activity Grant.

The courses will utilise the expertise from the British Judo Association, WLV Sport and academic staff at the University of Wolverhampton, with expertise of Parkinson’s, to deliver a novel, well-resourced activity programme for people with Parkinson’s. The first free course will begin on Wednesday 26 February 1-2pm  and will run weekly for 6 weeks at the British Judo Association Dojo on the Walsall Campus.

Emma Parkinson, Parkinson’s UK Regional Lead for the Midlands, Parkinson’s UK Area Development Manager- Midlands, “Parkinson's UK is delighted to be working with the University of Wolverhampton School of Sport and British Judo Association on this innovative project supporting people living with Parkinson's to remain active. We know that physical activity has a positive impact on both physical and emotional wellbeing and can help people manage their Parkinson's symptoms. This project will support people to manage their fear of falling and practical steps they can take so they can keep active. This will make a real difference to the participant's lives and help us learn more about what can support people living with Parkinson's to live well”.

Judo is built on basic principles of movement, body control and balance. The goal of judo is to disrupt the balance of another person; therefore, a set of skills are learnt to educate participants how to fall safely- these are called Ukemi techniques. This is a unique approach designed into the activity of judo to deal with the multi factorial nature of falling. This has proven successful in programmes run by BJA for older adults and will be a unique opportunity to transfer to people with Parkinson's.

Karen Roberts, Development Director, British Judo Association, “The British Judo Association are delighted to partner with the University of Wolverhampton in this project to promote the physical activity of those with Parkinson’s. With the support of Parkinson’s UK, we hope we can positively impact the group we work with, and in doing so show case an opportunity for the community.

Partnering with Anglia Ruskin University’s- Dr Katrina McDonald and University of Hertfordshire’s Prof Michael Callan, we developed a coach development programme called Finding Your Feet. This allows coaches to offer basic judo movement patterns to build confidence in physical literacy and reduce the fear of falling. The first lesson we have in judo is learning to ‘breakfall’, techniques to reduce the impact of falling so judo is a great activity to base such a programme on. Coach, Wayne Macdonald will use the Finding Your Feet programme as a basis for the sessions that our participants with Parkinson’s will take part in”.

At the University of Wolverhampton, we utilise the power of sport and physical activity to provide inclusive opportunities for everyone to be active while removing physical and perceptual barriers of participation and engagement. We aim to provide a service that overcomes previous experiences, ability or disabilities and provides the university community with the opportunity to experience the associated benefits of being physically active.

Tina Smith, Senior Lecturer in Biomechanics, University of Wolverhampton, “The combination of funding from Parkinson’s UK, and the University of Wolverhampton working in partnership with the British Judo Association, has provided a unique opportunity to extend the Finding Your Feet programme to people with Parkinson’s. We are really looking forward to exploring the potential impact of the programme on the lives of people with Parkinson’s”.

If you are interested in taking part in the free course, please book here.

For more information, please email Laurence Kenyon laurence.kenyon@britishjudo.org.uk