No. _______________
Registered Fitness Instructor Survey
Hello -- we work at BC Children’s Hospital and are conducting a study that involves
gathering information on challenging situations that you, as a registered fitness
professional, may be confronted with in the course of your work. We would like your input
with respect to the scenario outlined below, as there may be a number of issues that you
feel are important to consider with regard to participants or clients in your gym or
exercise classes. We’d also like to get your sense of what you would do in this situation.
Our hope is that this research will lead to a set of guidelines to help you in the course of
your work as a fitness leader when faced with clients who may present with some
challenging issues.
Your completion of the following survey is greatly appreciated. It will likely take only about
20 minutes of your time. It is assumed that consent has been provided if you complete and
return this survey. All individual responses are confidential and will only be seen by the
researchers (listed below). All the information will be analyzed as a group so that no one
person’s responses could be identified. This research has been cleared by the appropriate
organizational ethics screening committee.
For all those returning completed surveys, your e-mail will be entered into a draw for
$100.00. Please do not forget to add your e-mail address at the end of the survey if you
would like to participate in the draw. After you have completed the survey, please put it in
an envelope and mail it to: Dr. Ron Manley, Department of Psychology, BC Children’s
Hospital, Vancouver, B.C., V6H 3V4. Your participation is greatly appreciated. Please note
that the deadline for return of the survey is Friday July 28.
The researchers are: Dr. Ron Manley, Registered Psychologist; Dr. Karina O’Brien,
Registered Psychologist; and Sumerlee Samuels, B.A. If you would like any further
information about this study, please contact Dr. Ron Manley at (604) 875-2783. If you
have any concerns about this project, you may telephone the Research Subject
Information Line in the UBC Office of Research Services at the University of British
Columbia, at (604) 822-8598.
The survey is divided into two parts.
 Part 1 is an initial section on background information that will help us to understand
who is responding to the survey.
 Part 2 presents a scenario with a set of questions that we would value your input
on.
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PART 1:
Gender:
Background Information
 Female
 Male
Age:
______
Number of years you have been registered as a Fitness Instructor:
______ years
Do you work as (please circle):  Personal Trainer  Weight Training Instructor
 Yoga Instructor  Aerobics Instructor
 Other: ________________
Number of hours per week you work as a Fitness Instructor: ________
City/Town you practice in: _______________________________
Type of facility you practice in:__________________________________________
PART 2:
Scenario and Questions
Mary is a 17 year old woman whom you have seen regularly in your class or gym. She
appears to you to work out on a daily basis and, in conversation with you, has indicated that
she is struggling with a musculoskeletal injury. Although a student, you know that Mary is a
competitive runner and she has often asked you for information about the best workouts
to “burn fat”. She has made several comments around being too heavy, although you have
helped her work out her BMI, which is 16.5. She tells you that she has not had her period
in quite some time, but that this has facilitated her running as has her degree of body fat
(17%). Mary always seems to do a good workout, and you have seen her both in the aerobics
classes you teach as well as in the gym. In the gym she tends to do about an hour and a
half on the elliptical and about half an hour on a stair climber. You have needed to ask her
on one occasion how she was feeling as she was looking pale. At this time she told you she
felt a bit dizzy during one of her “hard” workouts.
Please answer the following questions about this scenario:
1. What is your sense of how Mary is doing? Please place a check mark in the box next
to the description that you feel applies best to Mary. Please check only one box.

Mary is a normal exerciser who takes her workouts seriously;

Mary is over the top with her exercise, what some might call an
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Registered Fitness Instructor Survey
“overexerciser”;

Mary is a somewhat high level exercise enthusiast but simply needs some
information around frequency, duration, and intensity of exercise;

Mary has bulimia nervosa;

Mary may have a medical condition such that exercise can be really beneficial
to her;

You are aware that Mary had previously been overweight so you applaud her in
her commitment to looking good and staying healthy;

Mary has anorexia nervosa.
Please explain the reason(s) for your answer(s) above:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. Is there an issue with respect to Mary exercising in your facility? Please check only
one box below.

There are no real issues of concern in this scenario;

There are some issues, but they are of little real concern;

There are concerns, but Mary has signed a waiver so they are not really a
consideration;

There are some ethical and liability concerns as part of this scenario;

There are serious ethical and liability concerns with respect to this scenario.
3. What would you personally do in this particular situation (please answer on the basis
of what you would do rather than what you think you should do)? Again, please
check only one box.

I wouldn’t do anything as assessment of risk is not really part of my
responsibility;
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
I would provide information to Mary if requested by her;

I would ask Mary if I could speak with her directly and express my concerns to
her;

I would discuss this situation with my supervisor or colleagues at one of our
staff meetings;

I would tell Mary she should really see a counsellor;

I would tell Mary that she is prohibited from using the facility until she has a
clearance note from her doctor;

I would administer a Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) to
Mary to try and assess if there are any concerns;

I would inform Mary of the risks involved in how she exercises, but once she
understands these risks it is up to her to decide whether and how to exercise.
4. What factors might you consider in the decision to allow or not allow Mary to
exercise in your classes or gym?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
5. Do you think exercise facilities and fitness leaders would benefit by having a set of
guidelines for handling situations like the one presented above?
 Yes
 No
Please explain:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
6. Have you ever encountered anyone similar to “Mary” (the woman in the vignette
above) in the course of your work as a fitness instructor?
 Yes
 No
7. Your e-mail address: _________________________________
Thank you for filling out this survey!
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Registered Fitness Instructor Survey