Perspectives Spring 2015

What do you do when you get an opportunity as a physical therapist to use your skills to help athletes become stronger, more flexible, and improve their balance? And what if that op- portunity provided D.P.T. students the chance to apply their learning in a meaningful way? You take it. With the encouragement of my director of the Hybrid Entry- Level D.P.T. Program, Dr. Mary Blackinton, and the support of my colleague, Dr. Robin Galley, we embarked on a mutu- ally beneficial journey to provide physical therapy screenings to athletes who participate in the Special Olympic and indi- viduals with intellectual and/or physical challenges who are without health care services. The phrase it takes a village ap- propriately describes the tremendous team effort it took to make this collaboration a reality. In addition to the Hybrid D.P.T. Program, our team included: Nancy Sawyer, senior vice president of Healthy Community and the Athlete Leadership Program Special Olympics Florida; Allison Rapp, site director of Special Olympics Florida Healthy Athletes program; and Donna Bainbridge, Ed.D., PT, ATC, Special Olympics global adviser for the FUNfitness and fitness programming. The FUNfitness (FF) program is a fitness-screening event that was developed in collaboration with the American Phys- ical Therapy Association for Special Olympics Healthy Ath- letes®. The goals of FUNfitness are to • assess needs in flexibility, strength, balance, and aerobic fitness • teach exercises to help athletes improve identified areas of need • educate participants, families, and coaches about the importance of flexibility, strength, balance, and aerobic conditioning in overall fitness • provide a hands-on opportunity for participants to learn how physical therapists can help them improve their fitness levels Prior to engaging in the FF screens, Dr. Galley and I went to Fort Lauderdale to participate in a Train the Trainer event held by Special Olympics Healthy Athlete coordinators to learn how to properly develop and implement the program. This two-day training was attended by physical therapists from various locations and settings in Florida. At the end of the training, we were given the opportunity to screen individ- Having FUN While Promoting FUNfitness in Tampa PT Tampa By Keiba Shaw, Ed.D., PT, Assistant Professor, Hybrid Entry-Level D.P.T. Program