Student’s passion creates opportunities for community wellness

Fourth year Kinesiology student, Debb Ward, leads seniors in exercise classes, including Osteofit.

Debb, a fourth-year Kinesiology student at Camosun, has been leading seniors in exercise classes, including Osteofit, a fitness and education program that safely supports individuals with osteoporosis or low bone density, for more than ten years.

"The natural decline in coordination, agility, balance and strength as we age can be slowed down and even improved,”

- Debb Ward, Kinesiology student

She has seen how exercise can help to keep individuals fit enough to maintain quality of life and continue to live independently. Of all the ways seniors can exercise, Debb has found that Osteofit is the best, due to its emphasis on spinal stability. Participants come away feeling confident, stronger, more stable, and experience less pain.

Besides working to improve the physical functions that decline with age, Osteofit also addresses brain-function through training games. Each class begins with an educational component so there’s a greater probability that the information will be remembered. Osteofit is different from other exercise programs as it is medically endorsed, evidence-based, and designed by clinicians at BC Women’s Hospital.

A project assigned by Kinesiology Instructor, Anthony Pluta, led Debb to approach the James Bay Community Centre regarding hosting older adult exercise classes. The students were tasked to identify gaps in operations for sport and fitness-oriented organizations in the community, and to create and execute hypothetical, or real programming that would serve these gaps. Debb now teaches Osteofit classes there regularly and loves it! Her participants love it too!

Community recreational instruction and applied health practices are just some of the ways students from the program will use their expertise out in the community. The Camosun College Kinesiology program explores many facets of how lifestyle behaviours, such as exercise, impact health and functional living across the lifespan. Students spend two to four years honing skills that will allow them to work in a range of health, fitness, sport, and specialized environments. Active Aging is covered in depth in the third year of the degree program to support students in developing applied skills and knowledge for working with community members looking to keep moving as they age.