Kimberly Johnson Gerontology Internship Huntsman World Senior Games Write-Up This past week was a great experien

e and one that I will always remember! I had the opportunity to tra"el down to St! George# Utah and "olunteer at the Health S reenings at the Huntsman World Senior Games! Ha"ing already gone and "olunteered last year at the games# I was not as ner"ous doing so this time! There were a total o$ $ourteen people who tra"eled together and "olunteered at the games! %ost o$ the people in our group who went were Gerontology minors# &ubli Health ma'ors or (xer ise S ien e ma'ors! The people that we helped were mostly between the ages o$ $i$ty and eighty! I did ha"e the opportunity to talk with a $ew people who were in their late eighties and early nineties! It was ama)ing to see senior iti)ens rise abo"e the stereotype o$ not being able to hear# walk or $un tion easily in so iety in general! Instead# they were in St! George parti ipating in a ti"ities su h as basketball# "olleyball# pi kleball# y ling# table tennis# s*uare dan ing# bridge# et ! +or this internship experien e# I had the opportunity to "olunteer at the health s reenings that were taking pla e at the Senior Games! I helped out at the bone density# body omposition# blood pressure# spine e"aluation and eye examination stations! I spent a ma'ority o$ my time at the bone density ma hine though be ause it kept ha"ing troubles and I was the only one o$ the student "olunteers who knew how to $ix it! I would lea"e the bone density station to go "olunteer somewhere else# but a little while later would be asked to return be ause something was wrong with the ma hine! ,t the bone density station# I swit hed between helping people sign up $or the s reening# entering their in$ormation into the ma hine and also ounseling the athletes about their results!

,t the body omposition station# I helped get the per ent body $at and body mass index s ores $or people and then explained what the numbers meant! While "olunteering at the blood pressure station# I took peoples blood pressures and showed them on a hart where their blood pressure $it in! +or many o$ the athletes# they had high blood pressure! This kind o$ aught me by surprise! %ost o$ the seniors a knowledged that they do ha"e a problem with high blood pressure and are on medi ine! ,lthough# some were sho ked by their high blood pressure and 'usti$ied it by laiming it was that way be ause o$ the stress o$ tra"eling# ompeting and eating out! I hope that that is the ase# and that those who truly did ha"e a problem with high blood pressure will monitor it better and get it under ontrol with the help o$ their physi ian! ,t the spine e"aluation station# I helped the seniors sign up to "isit with the do tor! I ould not help but o"erhear the do tor gi"ing the people some tips to help redu e the amount o$ ne k and ba k pain that they ha"e! He ounseled ea h o$ the senior athletes in some stret hes-exer ises that they ould do to help impro"e their spine! The eye examination station was probably my least $a"orite station to "olunteer at! I$ the seniors had poor "ision# it was di$$i ult to know where they were e"en starting when they read o$$ the numbers that they ould see! I do think that the eye e"aluation was a "ery use$ul s reening station though! I think that it was "ery eye opening $or some o$ the people who were s reened! It helped them to reali)e that their eye sight may not be as good as they thought# and that they should probably think about getting new glasses! I had the opportunity to "olunteer at the Huntsman World Senior Games health s reenings that took pla e inside the .ixie /enter in St! George! ,lthough I was there $or both weeks "olunteering# this write up is $o used on my experien e during 0 tober 1th to

0 tober 22th# 3423! The health s reenings ran $rom eight o5 lo k in the morning on Wednesday and Thursday until $our o5 lo k in the a$ternoon! I had the strong desire to on e again parti ipate in this internship-"olunteer experien e be ause it was su h a great experien e $or me last year! ,s a &ubli Health6 Health &romotion ma'or# I think that it is "ery important that people ha"e their health s reened in order to at h disease or illness early# or learn to pre"ent the onset o$ disease-illness! ,s a student seeking a erti$i ate in Gerontology# I ha"e a passion $or helping senior iti)ens to impro"e their *uality and *uantity o$ li$e as well as to de rease the stereotype in regards to senior iti)ens in the general publi ! I also wanted to parti ipate in this internship experien e again be ause I en'oy getting to meet and talk with people $rom all o"er the United States and other ountries! This internship experien e has helped me to re ogni)e that age should not be an ex use $or letting go o$ an indi"idual5s health! It is possible to be in your late eighties or early nineties and still be physi ally a ti"e and independent as a result o$ li"ing a healthy li$estyle!