From Concept to Action: Lessons from Building the Kirk Gibson Center for Parkinson’s Wellness
Research has demonstrated that exercise is one of the most powerful tools available to help slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and improve quality of life. In addition, education improves understanding and self-management, and social connection reduces isolation and enhances quality of life.
Yet a central challenge remains: how do we translate this knowledge into programs people can access in their own communities? For many individuals with PD, the barrier is not awareness of exercise benefits, but access to PD-informed programs that are affordable, appropriately designed, and available close to home.
This question inspired the development of the Kirk Gibson Center for Parkinson’s Wellness in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and guided the work presented at the 7th World Parkinson Congress. While our work includes early outcomes and assessment methods, building the Center has also highlighted broader lessons about translating research into sustainable, community-based support.
Lesson 1: Accessibility matters
From the outset, our goal was to remove financial barriers by offering PD-specific exercise, education, and wellness programming at no cost to members. With philanthropic support from donors, foundations, community partners, and guidance from InMotion®, we created a model where access is not determined by financial means.
The response has highlighted the magnitude of this need. In the past year, over 1,200 members have completed baseline assessments, and nearly 500 have completed six-month reassessments while actively participating in weekly programming. This level of engagement reflects both the demand for PD-specific programming and the value of removing barriers.
Lesson 2: Community is part of the intervention
While exercise is central, one of the most meaningful outcomes has been the development of a strong, supportive community. Members, care partners, coaches, volunteers, and staff function as teammates, working together to encourage, motivate, and improve quality of life.
The Center’s community-centric culture reinforces the idea that PD does not define a person’s potential. By emphasizing challenge, effort, and encouragement, members build confidence and recognize strengths they may not have realized.
Connection extends beyond structured classes. Members gather before and after classes to socialize, share coffee, play pool or board games, work on puzzles, and encourage one another. Many describe a sense of belonging that helps them stay motivated to exercise and remain engaged over time. This social environment is not an “added benefit,” but a key driver of long-term engagement and well-being.
Lesson 3: Personalized and ongoing care can exist in a community setting
A key challenge for PD-specialized physical, occupational, and speech therapists and fitness professionals is delivering appropriately challenging exercise within group settings where abilities vary widely. Because PD affects each individual differently and needs change over time, community exercise programs must provide appropriate challenge for a wide range of functional abilities while complementing episodic rehabilitation services.
At the Center, members complete baseline assessments using standardized measures of mobility, balance, endurance, and function, combined with personal factors such as individual goals, exercise experience, medical history, and fall history. This information guides placement into one of four group levels that provide appropriate challenge while maintaining safety and confidence, using a PD-specific functional stratification method based on a published decision-making tool for class placement (Borchers et al., 2019).
Our preliminary data show significant differences between these functional groups across all measured outcomes, demonstrating that they represent distinct levels of ability. These findings reinforce the importance of matching exercise intensity and complexity to an individual's current functional status.
This stratification allows individuals with similar functional abilities to train together, enabling coaches to better target intensity and progression. Subtle changes in movement, cognition, communication, or function can be identified early, allowing timely referral back to physical, occupational, or speech therapy when needed. In this way, the program supports early and ongoing intervention which may slow functional decline and reduce healthcare utilization over time.
Lesson 4: Community programs generate real-world evidence
Community-based programs are more than places to exercise—they are communities where members contribute to shared learning.
Regular assessments, reassessments, attendance patterns, and member feedback provide insight into both outcomes and program effectiveness. This creates a feedback loop in which practice informs ongoing refinement, with members serving as active contributors to a continuously evolving model. In this way, community wellness centers can generate real-world evidence that complements clinical research while remaining grounded in lived experience.
Because assessments are collected in a real-world community setting rather than a controlled research environment, they provide valuable insight into how evidence-based exercise programs perform in everyday practice. These observations complement traditional clinical research by identifying implementation strategies, member needs, and opportunities for continuous program improvement.
Early outcomes and ongoing learning
Our early findings are encouraging. After 6 months of participation, many members maintained function over time, while others progressed to higher-level exercise groups. Members reported greater confidence, strength, improved mood, and a stronger sense of connection and hope.
In a progressive neurological condition, maintaining function and engagement in meaningful activity are important outcomes. As the Center evolves, we continue to refine assessments, expand programming, and evaluate outcomes.
Looking forward: knowledge translation
A key goal of this work is knowledge translation—sharing lessons from the Kirk Gibson Center to support other communities in developing similar programs or integrating these principles into existing care for people with PD.
While settings will differ, the core principles remain consistent: make evidence-based exercise accessible, provide appropriately challenging programming, facilitate meaningful social connection, and use data to continuously improve outcomes.
Progress depends on shared knowledge across disciplines and lived experience. This work reinforces that translating research into practice is an ongoing cycle of learning and refinement.
Ultimately, the goal is not only to create places where people with PD can exercise, but to build communities where they are supported, challenged, empowered, and connected. When research, clinical expertise, and community come together, we move beyond evidence alone and begin creating environments where people can truly live well.
Reference:
Borchers EE, McIsaac TL, Bazan-Wigle JK, Elkins AJ, Bay RC, Farley BG. A physical therapy decision-making tool for stratifying persons with Parkinson's disease into community exercise classes. Neurodegener Dis Manag. 2019 Dec;9(6):331-346. doi: 10.2217/nmt-2019-0019. Epub 2019 Nov 5. PMID: 31686582; PMCID: PMC6900969.
The team at the Kirk Gibson Center for Parkinson’s Wellness, in Farmington, Michigan, including Emily Borchers, Director of Innovation, Angee Ludwa, Director of Programming and the Center’s Coach, Heather Aldred, came together at the WPC 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona to present their poster on this work as part of a poster tour.
Ideas and opinions expressed in this post reflect that of the author(s) solely. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of the World Parkinson Coalition®