Employer Role
The University of Pittsburgh Student Affairs staff will be there to support the promotion
and implementation of the program, as well as to ensure that the personal training staff us
properly educated in the proper ways to work with the physically disabled. They will need
to provide training hours for their employees, while also continuing to recruit participants
for the program and continuing to promote the value of the program.
Throughout the five-week sessions program. The Student Affairs office will work to pro-
mote the positives of the Disability Performance Protocol on physical, physiological, and
sociological health. Encouraging all participants to continue participating in weekly physical
activity even after their prescribed sessions have ended.
Participant Role
Following the initial recruitment to the program, participants are expected to attend all
five fitness sessions. They will listen to the personal trainers, participate in all workouts
they are capable of, and keep in open-mind when engaging in the sessions. They should
apply what they have learned, by making positive changes to their daily routines and mak-
ing a conscious effort to participate in regular physical activity. Finally they should be able
to provide feedback on the design of the program and any concerns or compliments they
may have.
Maximizing Participation
The overall primary goal of this program is to encourage as many physically disabled stu-
dents at the University of Pittsburgh to participate in personal training fitness sessions,
with the end goal being to have them participate in wheelchair basketball games. Since the
number of full-time students at the University who are physically disabled is very limited,
we will also be recruiting part-time, doctorate, and graduate students. These other partici-
pants have very limited time to participate in the program, so we will be working with
them and their busy schedules to set-up, a time and place where we will be able to com-
plete the sessions. The incentive to participating and completing the program is the physi-
cal benefits that will come along with increased mobility and independency, as well as the
social benefits that come from playing wheelchair basketball and interacting with like
minded individuals. The interactive nature of the program and the increased feelings of
well-being that comes from the sessions will increase program adherence, as well as in-
crease program participation.
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