Study: OPTIMAL model shows promise for improving patient engagement
Written by Marisa Horak, MS | Sept. 17, 2026
- Parkinson's disease affects lung function and can lead to difficulty feeling motivated without help.
- It is important to incorporate strategies that enhance motivation in these patients during rehabilitation.
- Incorporating motivation-focused strategies significantly enhanced breathing performance.
Incorporating a theory focused on maximizing patients’ motivation may enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitation aimed at improving lung function in people with Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study.
“This study provides initial evidence that incorporating strategies [to maximize motivation] into respiratory training can enhance [lung function outcomes] in both healthy individuals and [people with Parkinson’s],” researchers wrote, adding that these findings “underscore the potential of motivational and attentional strategies to improve respiratory motor performance in respiratory tasks.”
The study, “Using the OPTIMAL Theory to Optimize Aerodynamics in Respiratory Training for Healthy Adults and Individuals With Parkinson’s Disease,” was published in the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders.
OPTIMAL emphasizes participants’ expectations of improvement
Respiratory rehabilitation involves exercises that aim to strengthen the muscles responsible for pulling air in and out of the lungs. This type of therapy is commonly administered to help improve breathing ability among people with Parkinson’s.
When people are participating in any type of training, motivation plays a key role in how they perform. Motivation can be broadly conceptualized as either external — seeking to achieve something outside oneself, such as an award — or intrinsic, where the focus is on personal improvement and achievement.
A decade ago, researchers proposed a theoretical framework called Optimizing Performance Through Intrinsic Motivation and Attention for Learning, or OPTIMAL, that aims to maximize intrinsic motivation during rehabilitation. The theory emphasizes participants’ expectations of improvement, increases autonomy and choice, and directs focus toward the intended outcome rather than experiences within the body itself.
The OPTIMAL framework was originally developed for use during physical therapy aimed at strengthening the limbs. In this study, researchers wanted to see if the theory could also be applied to respiratory therapy in people with or without Parkinson’s. They noted that motivation-focused therapy may be especially useful for Parkinson’s patients because the disease’s effects on the brain often lead to difficulty feeling motivated without help.
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