By Ella Onuoha, Staff Writer
October 12, 2023
The World Health Organization has noted that close to 3.2 million deaths each year are attributed to physical inactivity. Knowing this daunting statistic regarding a clear epidemic, Ouachita’s kinesiology department started making an effort to change this statistic.
With the local Arkadelphia community’s health in mind, the department launched the “Stay Strong/Stay Healthy” program in conjunction with the Methods, Materials and Health Education course, which allows kinesiology students the opportunity to provide one-on-one instruction and encouragement to eight volunteers over the age of 65 that want to improve their physical health while living up to their standard of using “exercise as medicine.” This program is a partnership with the Clark County extension of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and Research, and it is born from the needs of students to study more than one age group’s health.
“Most of the population we deal with are college aged men and women of 18-22 years,” Dr. Terry DeWitt, Director of Graduate Studies in Kinesiology at Ouachita, said. “We don’t experience enough interaction with older people who also want to be physically active. It’s an epidemic.”
This program not only benefits students, but it also meets the needs of the focused population being advised. “[The volunteers] said they wanted to increase their activity…safely,” DeWitt said. “So, this is a great opportunity for our students to do some live experiential learning with some real people.”
Since this population’s health concerns are much different than the college population often studied, the focus is much different than a typical course in wellness. “We’re focusing on quality-of-life skills for this group of people,” DeWitt said. “And so it’s a whole new mindset for our students.”
The success of this program is likely because students approach their learning path with great enthusiasm and a clear understanding of what it means to be healthy. Afterall, quality health is the goal of any age group.
“Health means having a good range of flexibility, cardiovascular health, muscular strength and endurance, just as the ‘Stay Strong/Stay Healthy’ program is instructing its participants,” sophomore kinesiology major Erika Ortiz said.
Students recognize the value of this program and the additional knowledge about health that it will bring them. “If you can work with this age group, chances are, you can work with any group,” junior kinesiology major Nicolette Larkins said. It’s a rewarding program and a refreshment of new learning. With the support of students, DeWitt has high hopes for the program. “I thought it would be a fun project for our class to take on this role of working with a special population of people who are over the age of 65,” DeWitt said. “We think it’s going to be a great program.”
