Alumni Association of Lakehead University

LU Grad Students Go East- and West- to Present to International Community

by Marianne Jones

Two grad students in Lakehead University's Masters of Public Health program will be traveling to Vancouver and Istanbul, respectively in June to present the results of their research on behalf of people with Parkinson's Disease.

Kirsti Reinikka will be presenting at The Movement Disorder Society's 11th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Itanbul on June 5th. Her research partner, Anne MacLeod, will be doing two separate presentations at the 15th International World Confederation for Physical Therapy Congress in Vancouver, June 4-6.

Reinikka and MacLeod, both physiotherapists, have created an electronic training module exercise program designed for the specific needs of people with the disease. They undertook the research project as part of their requirements for the Masters of Public Health program. Their research began in September of 2005. By October 2006, the first exercise class was up and running at the 55-Plus Centre in Thunder Bay.

According to Reinikka, there is "plenty of documentation" showing the benefits of exercise to people with Parkinson. However, the research has been focused on in-hospital rehabilitation. People suffering from this neurodegenerative disease find that typical exercise classes within the community are not only difficult or impossible to keep up with, but can worsen the symptoms of their illness. The solution is not to avoid working out, but to do exercises specifically designed for their needs.

Until recently, the majority of Parkinson sufferers did not have access to such programs outside a hospital setting. They could follow an assigned list of exercises at home, but, as Reinikka says, "the motivation's just not there.  No one likes exercising on their own at home. That's why we go to gyms. The folks with the local Parkinson Support Group wanted something in the community, to exercise together. This type of delivery model was not there."

The 26- hour training video, which was funded by a variety of community partners, including the Thunder Bay Community Foundation, The Physiotherapy Foundation of Canada, and The St. Joseph's Care Group Rehabilitation Network, trains fitness instructors in delivering an exercise class for Parkinson's patients.

MacLeod and Reinikka had not met before they began the project, but both agree that they worked well together as research partners, because they both understood the demands of full-time lives. Reinikka, who also serves as co-president of the Northwestern Ontario District of the Ontario Physiotherapists Association, undertook her Masters studies while employed full-time at St. Joseph's Hospital. MacLeod, a physician's wife with three young children, had been working  for the Arthritis Society when she decided to work on a Masters degree part time as what she jokingly refers to as a "personal indulgence."

"But then this project came along and it suddenly became full-time."

The work on the project became so demanding that MacLeod's husband, Brian, started referring to Reinikka as "the other woman" in their lives.

"We were always emailing each other late at night, or on the phone."

"We bring different strengths," says Reinikka. "Anne is the process person, and I'm the outcomes person. But we are similar enough in what matters. We have similar values. We both needed to feel that the participants in the study were getting what they wanted out of it, and were not just guinea pigs for us."

MacLeod, who was originally from the Ottawa-Kingston area, says she has "no desire to go back." She enjoys the small town feel of Thunder Bay, and the outdoor opportunities it affords for her family. They enjoy hiking, being close to the woods, and canoe-camping together as a family.

Reinikka, a Thunder Bay native, also loves the outdoors. When she's not working at the hospital or on her studies, she is usually organizing hiking or winter games parties with her "physio friends" at her parent's camp on Surprise Lake.

The next step for the training module, says Reinikka, is to "roll the program out to the region," where people with Parkinson's do not have the same access as patients in Thunder Bay.

Trish Nelson, Manager of Neurolocomotor Services with St. Joseph's Care Group, describes Reinikka as a "very dynamic individual, very committed to her profession and the clients that she serves." She says that the research project "fit well with our client population and our philosophy of meeting unmet needs within the region," adding that "we're interested in the sustainability of the project."

Despite the intensity of the project, it has only whetted the two women's appetite for more. They are currently working with other community partners on a proposal to do similar research, adapting their training package for other clinical populations.

Chances are, this is only the start for this dynamic duo.