Aquatic Exercise Association

AEA/ATRI Member's receive 20% Online Education.  Make sure you visit the Member's Only Page to get the discount code.

Please read carefully before purchasing and beginning the course.

AEA’s Arthritis & Aquatic Exercise: The Next Level

Program Details

Separate Courses

This is an AEA blended education program with two parts that are standalone courses but complement each other.  Each course component can be completed independently to gain the knowledge and to earn continuing education. 

• Part I – Aquatic Training Principles ONLINE ED.
• Part II – Practical Applications WORKSHOP and Virtually Live Option. Please visit our website calendar for an event near you.

Both courses are required for Specialty Certificate.

Specialty Certificate

To achieve recognition with the AEA Arthritis & Aquatic Exercise: The Next Level Specialty Certificate, both components to the Next Level Program (Part I and Part II) must be completed. 

Additionally, to obtain the Specialty Certificate, these prerequisites must be current:

• AEA Aquatic Fitness Professional Certification (to understand how to design and implement aquatic programming)
• AFAP Online Training Course (to understand the foundational principles of exercising with arthritis)

Part I - Course Details

Take the AEA Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Program (AFAP) to the next level with advanced training based on current research and trends in exercise for people with arthritis. The goal is to recognize when it is prudent to provide higher intensity exercise. This online course is one of two components that make up the Arthritis & Aquatic Exercise: The Next Level Specialty Certificate course and will guide you through the following key concepts.

• Arthritis Overview – Module One
• Aquatic Programming – Module Two                   
• AFAP Exercise Update – Module Three
• Lesson Plan Update – Module Four
• Professional Considerations – Module Five

This course includes quick quizzes to assist with understanding content and seven assignments to help you apply the knowledge. 

Each quiz must be completed before moving on to the next section.  The quizzes are multiple choice and true/false questions designed as a quick review of your understanding and retention of materials.  The quizzes will be automatically graded.  You must correctly answer all the questions in each quiz section before you will be allowed to continue with the course.  However, you can repeat each quiz as often as needed to achieve 100% or to simply review the material.  All questions are based upon the specific course content.

The assignments are designed to reinforce the course materials and help you apply the information to your own programs.  These short essay assignments require that you complete and submit to AEA for approval.  Assignments will be evaluated with a Pass/Fail process; you will not receive specific feedback unless an assignment must be resubmitted. You will receive an email notification when your course has been reviewed and whether the assignment was approved or if it must be resubmitted.  Your assignment progress will also be noted in the online course.

If there are multiple assignments within a Module, you can continue working within that Module without receiving an assignment review.  However, you will not be able to progress to the next Module until all current Module assignments have been reviewed and approved. Assignment review may take 1-2 business days.  Therefore, this course cannot be completed in a single day.  Expect to spend multiple days completing this course, which is designed to provide both understanding and application of skills.

AEA has provided a PDF of the course materials that you can download to your computer for future reference and for completing the course. All quizzes and assignments must be completed and submitted online as directed.  However, you can print and use the download file to make notes and prepare for your online submittals.