Step 1 - deciding what you need to know
People are happy to fill in screening forms if you explain what they are for and design them properly. The purpose of this resource is to help you design a readiness-to-exercise questionnaire that will help you:
- minimise risks to learners
- plan sessions that include the appropriate level of challenge for all learners; and
- plan sessions in which all learners can participate fully.
You are about to start work with a group of learners of mixed ages and mixed sexes. What sort of medical conditions, health issues and concerns and disabilities do you think it is important for you to know about before you start?
Divide these into:
- things that you think you should ask everyone about
- lifecycle issues - things that are a consequence of maturing or ageing, but that it might be unnecessary or inappropriate to ask some people about in some circumstances; and
- lifestyle issues - health issues that we bring upon ourselves through the life choices we have made or the environment we have been in. These may have a big impact on our ability to take part in exercise, but they may also be a motivating factor.
Do the same again with each of the following:
- A group of older learners of both sexes.
- A group of young women in prison.
- A group of mental health service users.
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