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Reflection From a CASE Grant Winner

CASE Grant Project Summary

Assessment of the degree to which specific project aims were accomplished

During the spring semester of our final year of graduate school, we participated in a service-learning opportunity as part of our physical therapy education curriculum. After several phone calls, emails and meetings with our community partner and academic advisor, we were able to develop an action plan based on the needs of our community partner, Lowell Community Health Center. The final outcome was a curriculum that community health promoters could use to increase awareness and knowledge about the benefits of physical activity. After delivering a presentation of the curriculum to the community health workers, we believe they are empowered to deliver a positive and realistic message about physical activity to the residents of Lowell.

Measurable outcomes from the partnership included: changes in knowledge about the benefits of active living and healthy eating in the community collected via qualitative evaluations from participants following the 1 hour curriculum; number of participants who participated in the program collected via program records; number of trainers who ere trained on the curriculum; qualitative evaluations from the trainers following the curriculum training; development of spreadsheet for ongoing data collection for ongoing Lowell in Motion presentations; number of people in attendance in LCHC's community wellness programs; student reflection papers; and effectiveness of the service-learning experience at LCHC to be collected via qualitative evaluations.

Assessment to the degree to which general program criteria were met

General program goals were to develop and present a curriculum to educate community members about the importance of physical activity. We also aimed to strengthen community relationships between the school and the LCHC. Through diligent work, we were able to complete the curriculum and deliver a presentation to several LCHC members. We provided the LCHC with a copy of the presentation so that they will be able to translate the curriculum into several languages and implement the message of the importance of incorporating physical activity into a daily routine. Additionally, we created a video recording of the presentation that may be used for future audiences and as a training tool for new volunteers and employees.

Explanation of what the student learned about service leadership and about academic-service entrepreneurship

During our time spent on service learning this semester, we were able to learn about service-learning. It is an experience of reciprocal learning. During the course of this project, we have learned a lot about leadership and entrepreneurship. As physical therapy students, we recognize our unique civic obligation to share knowledge about health and wellness. We learned about the community in which we live and the members of society with whom we will work with in the future. With the help of our community member, we were able to create a connection between the local university, local organization, and community members.

Throughout this project, we had the excellent guidance when applying for a grant. The Community Academic Service Entrepreneur grant has afforded us the opportunity to supply the Lowell Community Health Center with necessary items with which to enhance their current wellness program. This was a great learning experience because we may need to repeat this process sometime in the future. We now have a better understanding of the importance of providing funds to community-based programs.

We also learned a lot about communicating with the community. Effective communication can help to facilitate positive outcomes. Maintaining close communication between ourselves and our community partner was essential in our successful completion of this project. Additionally providing effective communication in our presentation was essential. After several revisions, we were able to deliver our message using layman's terms which will assist in community understanding.

Another lesson we learned was to be as organized as possible throughout the project to so that meetings and events flow smoothly. Using time effectively when meeting with our community member helped to closely match the community needs with our expertise. Planning deadlines helped us to reach our goals. By planning in advance, we were also able to accommodate for changes in scheduling.

Service-learning is a method of building relationships. Not only did this project allow us to discuss our beliefs about the importance of physical activity, but it also supplied us with an opportunity to learn from community members. We learned about their needs and how to best communicate our message. Members of the Lowell community have high incidence of chronic conditions, and so we were able to direct our expertise to how those conditions relate to physical activity. The community members helped to solidify our desire to work with the public and to communicate effectively the need for physical activity.

Recommendations for further development of the specific proposed idea in the future

After considering the feedback from our presentation, there are a few ideas that could enhance the current curriculum. One thought was to discuss more about mood changes such as depression - as many community members suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. To follow up with the specific proposed ideas, we would be interested to learn how the people who attended the presentation will use this information in the future. It would be helpful to know specifically how this information will be dispensed to the community (i.e. another presentation or built into preexisting classes).

Recommendation for related general or specific ideas that could be developed in the future

During the development of our curriculum, we believed it would be important to touch briefly on several topics that related to health and physical activity. However, a number of the topics existed that could be presented in greater detail, perhaps in future student projects. One topic that was of particular interest to the community educators was footwear, specifically resources of locations for those on limited income to purchase quality footwear for physical activity. Another area of interest was the topic of physical activity for pregnant women and for children. In addition, some community educators thought it would be helpful to provide or demonstrate sample exercise tools such as therabands during the presentation in order to provide a visual outside of the PowerPoint. Other community educators suggested more information on the impact of different surfaces of the joints of the body, such as treadmill, concrete, trails, etc. A final idea was to have interpreter services available for community participants during future presentations.

The community educators were also asked about what recommendations they felt could encourage physical activity in the community. One prevalent recommendation was the development of a safer and cleaner outdoor environment for community members. For example, reduced trash, increased sidewalks, and increased walking trails could motivate community members to exercise outdoors. Another thought was to create more free or reduced cost exercise groups for community members.

Recommendations for enhanced collaboration between the community partner and his or her school in the future

An enhanced collaboration between the community partner and the school could be reached by increasing the amount of meetings with the community partner. Both the community partner and the students agree that this would facilitate more in-depth discussion so that events flow in an organized manner, and also increase understanding between the community partner and the school. One thing that could be discussed more in depth between the community partner and the students is the action plan, so that a better understanding is established on the plans for the project. The community partner has suggested increased time observing exercise classes at the LCHC in order to see different groups of community members. In addition, creating an orientation event for the students at the beginning of the project could be useful in becoming familiar with the community partner and the ideas that are important to them. This would be helpful in giving the students more preparation at the very beginning of the service learning project. Another recommendation would be to determine the preferred method of communication with the community partner/school (telephone vs. email) so that communication is more efficient.

An accounting of project funds

Essential items for the Lowell Community in Motion include pedometers and therabands. The facility ordered 100 pedometers, 30 strips of theraband in various resistances (light, medium, and heavy), and water bottles for the community members.

Program Coordinator, AmeriCorps Student Leaders in Service
Massachusetts Campus Compact
Medford, MA 02155

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