Exercise toolkit for health professionals who work with people with Parkinson's

Signposting for GPs and nurses to exercise opportunities for people with Parkinson’s.

Last reviewed

26 August 2025

Topic

Care strategies
Treatments and medication

Resource type

Publications

Profession

Doctor (Geriatrician)
Doctor (GP)
Doctor (Neurologist)
Healthcare Assistant
Nurse (other)
Nurse (Parkinson's nurse)
Occupational therapist
Pharmacist
Physiotherapist
Psychologist

Stage

Diagnosis
Maintenance

This toolkit compiles resources for health professionals working with people with Parkinson's, offering guidance on overcoming exercise barriers and signposting various exercise opportunities and supporting organisations.

Use these quick links to explore the toolkit:

The toolkit was created to fill an information gap for professionals, especially nurses and GPs, who wanted to discuss the benefits of exercise for people with Parkinson's.

Information for exercise professionals who work with people with Parkinson’s is available from our Exercise Hub.

Health professionals

Key resources for health professionals

Moving Medicine

Moving Medicine is a website including consultation guides and patient resources to help healthcare professionals integrate physical activity conversations into routine clinical care.

Learn more on the Moving Medicine website.

Work was done in collaboration with Moving Medicine by Parkinson’s UK to create Parkinson’s specific resources for health professionals.

Consultation guides help you have good quality conversations in a short space of time about physical activity with your Parkinson’s patients.
Patient information includes fitness plans and information leaflets for patients with Parkinson’s. View the range of resources.

American College of Sports Medicine and the Parkinson’s Foundation exercise recommendations

American College of Sports Medicine (ASCM) and the Parkinson’s Foundation, collaborated to create an infographic on exercise recommendations for people with Parkinson’s.

Download the infographic from the ASCM website.

Parkinson's UK Exercise Hub

Exercise professionals share resources for health and social care professionals in the UK on the Excellence Network’s Exercise Hub on Basecamp, the Network's online collaboration platform. To join, email [email protected] and request a log in.

Parkinson’s UK patient-facing resources

Parkinson’s UK produces a variety of patient-facing resources on physical activity and exercise, including resources on low and high intensity exercise, as well as hosting a tool to look up sports club or classes near you.

Online resources can be accessed on the Physical activity and exercise part of our website.

A print guide Being active with Parkinson's is available for professionals to share with patients to help people understand the importance of being active and ways to become active

Order your free resource here.

Exercise programmes

Exercise programmes and classes

Staying active at home with Parkinson's: your toolkit

Parkinson’s UK offers workout videos for a variety of different types of exercise at different levels of intensity for people with Parkinson’s to do at home. Exercises covered include aerobics, Nordic pole walking, strength training and seated pilates.

Access the toolkit.

NeuroHeroes (online Zoom classes)

NeuroHeros offered online exercise classes specifically tailored for people with Parkinson's taught by professional neuro-physiotherapists.

Find out more about NeuroHeroes on their website.

Reach Your Peak

Reach Your Peak offer online exercise programmes, alongside a member forum and other benefits to people with Parkinson’s.

Find out more about Reach Your Peak on their website.

Pure Gym and Everyone Active

Everyone Active manages over 230 leisure and cultural centres in England in partnership with different local authorities. They offer complimentary membership for people living with Parkinson’s, as well as carers to provide support if needed.

Information on their offer can be found on the Parkinson’s UK website.

Pure Gym offers a 12 month off-peak gym membership for free to all people with Parkinson’s and their carers if necessary. This was negotiated by the Movers and Shakers podcast.

Find out how to access free gym membership on the Movers and Shakers website.

Health professionals are encouraged to contact local bodies to find out about exercise opportunities in their area.

Parkrun or Parkwalk Initiative

While not Parkinson's-specific, Parkrun and Parkwalk are accessible and social activities that are run across the UK, that many people in the Parkinson’s community are involved with.

Find your local Parkrun on their website.

Further support

Social prescribers, or community link workers should know about local/community-based interventions that are happening.