Balance and Fitness Enhancement Program for Deaf Older Adults

Data collection for this study has closed

Do you struggle to exercise even though you KNOW you should?

Do you have difficulty finding an exercise class that communicates with you in your preferred language?

Come join the 8-week exercise class at Gallaudet! When you come, you will get instructions in ASL, interact with others, get your moves in, have fun, and enjoy a bit of snacks afterwards.

Who can participate?

Deaf adults, 60 years or older.

Fluent in ASL.

Able to walk at least 20 feet independently.

Live in the community, not in a nursing home.

What does participation look like?

The main part of the study is that you will come to Gallaudet campus for an exercise class.

The class will run for 8 weeks, twice each week. We hope that you will also exercise at least once at home or in your community.

In addition:

There will be an appointment to check your balance abilities. This will be for about an hour before the classes start.
Your balance abilities will be checked again after 8 weeks of exercises.
We will ask you to fill out a survey after 6 months.
You will be asked to wear a Fitbit for the study.

Spring 2026 Schedule

Exercise classes: March 9, 2026 to May 1, 2026. Monday and Friday 12-2pm.

Enrollment and testing: February 2 - February 26, 2026. (We'll make an appointment with each participant.)

Compensation

Participants will receive a gift card for all non-class appointments (pre-assessment, post-assessment).

Participants will receive a $5 voucher for MarketPlace (Gallaudet's cafeteria) that they can use for each exercise class they attend.

Participants will receive a $25 gift card after attending 14 sessions.

Want more information?

Take a look at our informed consent document -

Informed consent form document

Interested in Participating?

This project is supported by the REAP (R15) grant from the National Institutes of Health - National Institute on Aging (NIH-NIA; Grant #: R15AG087454).

This project is approved by the Gallaudet University's Institutional Review Board (IRB) for protection of human subjects (Study #:IRB-FY24-34).