Perspectives Summer/Fall 2016

Exercise and sport science students helped collect fitness assessment data from senior citizens at the Hollywood Hills United Methodist Church. The opportunity to conduct the data collection occurred due to a previous professional relationship with Larry Starr, Ed.D., M.S., ATC, CSCS, former NSU assistant athletic director for sports medicine, who wanted to obtain some quantitative results from the Senior Citizens Comprehension Project he has been working on recently. Tobin A. Silver, Ph.D., M.S., CSCS, associate professor and practicum director, and Corey Peacock, Ph.D., M.S., CSCS, CISSN, assistant professor, were excited to provide NSU students with this interesting opportunity. “I believe students enhance their learning when physically practicing skills learned in lab on the intended population,” Silver explained. “Practicing fitness assessments on each other in their exercise prescription lab is a nice introduction to these skills; but, it is enhanced with hands-on experiences with a variety of client demo- graphics. That is why we take such pride in weaving service hours—such as A Day for Children and Special Olympics Florida–Broward, as well as elite sport opportunities—into our curriculum.” The project spanned approximately seven weeks and included pre- and post- fitness assessments such as anthropometrics (height, weight, and waist cir- cumference), resting measures (heart rate and blood pressure), upper- and lower-body flexibility (back scratch and sit and reach), upper- and lower- body strength (arm curl and chair stand), and functional fitness (two-minute step test). “Dr. Peacock structured lecture and lab to cover the senior fitness assessments and worked with me to prepare students for the learning experi- ence,” Silver said. “The Senior Citizens Comprehension Project has been well received by the participants,” Starr said. “They have stated many times how lucky they are to have our group working with them. It has been a very fulfilling project that I hope can be expanded to more churches and other senior citizens.” n COLLEGE OF HEALTH CARE SCIENCES • 25 Top: Tobin Silver, Ph.D., M.S., CSCS, takes a project participant’s blood pressure. Bottom: Back row, from left, are exercise and sport science students Anthony Mora, Lucas Ruiz, and Miguel Mercado with Tobin Silver. Pictured in the front row are Larry Starr, Ed.D., M.S., ATC, CSCS, and Richard Sanchez, exercise and sport science student. Fitness Assessments Provided to the Community