Mia's Space: Exercise for All
Those of you that have followed Mia's Space are aware that we have struggled with her weight. She is either unconcerned or actively works to thwart our every good intention. By "our" I mean her siblings, Laura, Joe, Fabersha, Lindsey, Wanda, Toni, Wanda and the other staff at St. Mary's, her swim coaches and other friends who have been engaged in the "Love to Lose Campaign."
Regardless of weight loss however, Mia is healthy and fit and contributing to this is the healthy living class in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. Zoe Young, a PhD student, created the program due to her interest in the health of adults with disabilities.
She conceived an idea to bring adults with developmental disabilities into the Department located in the Ramsey Center to do weight training, balance and coordination, cardio, and also have fun. UGA students work with participants for 90 minutes, twice a week. They started with five participants and 7 students in 2012. This past semester the course had 25 participants and 32 students!
The UGA students are freshmen or sophomores, and come from exercise and sport science, biology, psychology, public health and nutrition science majors. Most of them want to become healthcare professionals of some kind and they enroll in the program to learn how to problem solve and interact with individuals with disabilities. Young says she has learned many things from organizing this program. The students had to learn new ways of getting to know the participants and had to think about the limitations of clinical tools, like imaging, and the design of exercise equipment that presents barriers to people with disabilities.
As a result, Young has undertaken research to redesign those tools, and the students created a fitness room with cheap and easy-to-use exercise stations for individuals with all kinds of disabilities as their final project. During the process of creating those exercise stations, the students brought out several issues and barriers that people with disabilities face when they enter a typical fitness center. The students wanted to make sure that their fitness room was inclusive and welcoming. From the beginning it was a learning experience for both the participants and the students.
"One of our hopes is to export this program model to other universities or hospitals so we can benefit more students and individuals with disabilities," shares Young.
The unique thing about the program is that it is a partnership between the community and the university. Students help participants from the community to become more physically active and eat healthier and the participants educate the students by providing person-to-person experiences. "Using students who register for credit hours allows us to take an individual approach towards each participant with different needs and create a personalized wellness plan. This program also allows students to get early exposure to different disabilities and health conditions. As most of our students are entering the healthcare field, we think that this would be a good way to promote a more inclusive and friendly healthcare environment in the future. We really hope to make a little contribution to the field of disability and health."
by Pat Nobbie, PhD, Mia' mom
To find out more about the Love to Lose Campaign, contact Kevin McCully at .
Tags: Making a Difference, Mia's Space, Pat Nobbie