Promoting fitness in low income residents in Cherokee County Georgia
Authors: Lauren Peterson, RN
Faculty Supervisor: Maryanne Sandberg Ed.D., RN
Abstract:
Bethesda Community Clinic (BCC) in Canton, Georgia offers affordable healthcare services to low income, uninsured, and underinsured residents of Cherokee County. BCC allowed me to volunteer with them and through the volunteer experience BCC revealed an educational need for their community: physical education. For my service-learning project I assessed the BCC patient community, taking into account age range and income level, I developed a physical fitness education class. In the class I educated BBC patients on the benefits of physical activity, focusing on prevention of chronic conditions. In the class I provided demonstration of exercises that can be done at home. We discussed public parks with trails and activities. At the end of the class I provided handouts with exercise reminders and a list of public parks with activities and amenities. The leaders of BCC were very excited about the class and felt like it would be a great installment in their clinic, as they offer other chronic condition prevention classes to their patients. This project made me feel like I can make a difference now as well as in the future. The service-learning student learning outcomes of College of Coastal Georgia include: Academic enhancement, civic learning, and personal growth. Personal growth comes to mind first, because this project really got me out of my comfort zone, and I performed tasks that helped me grow professionally.
