Graduate student Krista Glowacki has developed an innovative Exercise and Depression Toolkit for Canadian healthcare providers who work with adults with depression. The kit is designed to support healthcare professionals in exploring exercise as a treatment option for depression in collaboration with their patients.
As a Kinesiology PhD candidate and registered occupational therapist who worked for the Canadian Mental Health Association with adults with a diagnosed mental illness, Krista’s research focuses broadly on the relationship between physical activity and mental health, and she has led the development of this project under the supervision of UBC Kinesiology faculty member, Dr. Guy Faulkner.
Inspired by her experiences working in the mental health field, the three-part Exercise and Depression Toolkit is an effort to begin integrating exercise into healthcare services delivery, as access to exercise therapy is not yet standardized in most mental health services in Canada. “After personal and family experiences with mental illness, I started recognizing the benefits of engaging in regular exercise for managing mental health,” she says. “When working as an Occupational Therapist, I saw benefits for individuals who would engage in our Active Recovery program. People became more confident, socialized more, and had noticeable improvement and changes with their mood.”
According to the development team, this toolkit was built through a rigorous evidence-based process that involved extensive consultation with adults who have lived with depression, health care providers, exercise professionals and researchers. “Ultimately, we hope that the Exercise and Depression Toolkit will be a starting point to exercise becoming a utilized and accessible treatment [option] to help improve the lives of Canadians living with depression.”
For more information about how and why the toolkit was developed, you can read the academic paper published in the October issue of “Mental Health and Physical Activity” journal here, as well as the article published in Centre for Active Living here.
Bachelor of Human Kinetics, 1995 (Stream: Leisure & Sport Administration)
Many of our alumni have careers that provide them with the power and potential to change lives. As director of the Ride to Conquer Cancer at the BC Cancer Foundation, Lindsay Carswell has had the privilege of building a career which enables him to make a lasting difference in the lives of others. By overseeing BC’s largest mass participation fundraising event for the past five years, Lindsay has had the opportunity to promote cycling to thousands of British Columbians looking to make a difference in the fight against cancer.
A great number of participants in the Ride are returning to cycling for the first time since childhood. Many are new to sport altogether. One of the things that Lindsay finds so gratifying about his job is hearing from people who discover road biking as a new pastime and have adopted it as a lifestyle change that leads them on a path to better health. Of course, the fact that the Ride raises millions of dollars annually to fund ground-breaking cancer research is incredibly rewarding too.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Human Kinetics at UBC in 1995, Lindsay enrolled in the Sport and Event Marketing post-diploma program at George Brown College in Toronto. For fifteen years of his career, he was involved in the marketing and business side of major sports as he worked closely with corporate clients in their efforts to reach consumers in meaningful ways. This immersed him in the worlds of ice hockey, auto racing, beach volleyball, pro football and even the Olympic Games.
Lindsay was a member of the Thunderbird varsity cross country and track & field teams during his time at UBC. He continues to run regularly, and looks to inspire others to adopt this lifelong pastime by recently starting up an elementary school cross country program in East Vancouver.
Sept. 17, 2019 – Dr. Guy Faulkner and PhD candidate Negin Riazi sit down with Global News BC to talk about the premiere of the documentary, “Running Free: Children’s Independent Mobility” and the benefits of letting children ‘run free’. Watch it here!
Sept. 13, 2019 – New paper out by Dr. Lira Yun, PhD student Matthew Fagan, and Dr. Guy Faulkner examining whether changes in physical activity predicted reductions in depression. Read it here!
Sept. 13, 2019 – New paper out by PhD candidate Krista Glowacki and Dr. Guy Faulkner outlining the development of the new Exercise and Depression Toolkit. Read about it here!
Sept. 9, 2019 – The Exercise and Depression Toolkit was released on September 1st, 2019. This resource was developed by PhD candidate Krista Glowacki, Dr. Guy Faulkner, and in collaboration with community partners. Check out the website for more information and to download the toolkit: https://exerciseanddepression.ca/
Aug. 26th, 2019 – The Pop-PA Lab enjoying the last days of summer with delicious curry in Surrey!
