FYI. Please reply direct to Margaret Volante.
Tom
From: Margaret Volante [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 28 April 2014 14:20
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: doctoral project supervision - exercise uptake in middle age
I have a student who is undertaking a Doctorate in Professional Studies. Her professional practice as a fitness instructor involves working predominately with men and women in 45-65year age group. She is taking a life course and identity perspective to investigating exercise uptake in middle age.
I am looking for a supervisor with a psychosocial interest including attribution theory in exercise uptake in this age group and wondered if there was anyone in the BNIM or psychosocial groups who might be interested in supervising this project.
The study has arisen out of her practice observations of clients.
A minority of clients are physically active on and off, throughout their life. They generally always liked playing games, sport or exercised in many forms and the intensity dictated by what was happening in their life. These clients seem to have a sense of corporeal being, remain physically active and eschewed sedentary lifestyles.
In contrast the larger group of clients followed a different pathway; they are sedentary for all their adult life; they have little body and proprioceptive awareness and found exercise uncomfortable or even painful. These clients tend to be uncomfortable with activity, they are cerebral, tend to have desk bound jobs and now suffer conditions directly associated with lifestyle choices. A commonality of this second group is that they all related a single negative experience of physical education around the age of 14-15. It was so traumatic that they could still remember it in great detail.
After this event, they appear to decide that exercise is not for them and a process of ‘corporeal dissociation’ seems to start.
The re-association is when they present at clinic and can take some time and needs sensitivity on the part of the practitioner.
It is this phenomenon as observed in practice that is the focus of this research study. It looks systematically at both the practitioner and client perspective using a mixed methods approach of large scale survey and in-depth narrative interviews.
Anyone interested can contact me on [log in to unmask]
Many thanks
Margaret
Dr Margaret Volante
Senior Lecturer in Masters/Doctorate Professional Studies & Work Based Learning
School of Health and Education
Hendon Campus
Middlesex University
Town Hall
The Burroughs,Hendon,
London NW4 4BT
02084114728
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