Tuesday, September 12, 2006
OT students to teach backpack awareness
|
Almost 400 children in elementary grades will learn the right way to pack and wear a backpack when students from the University of Southern Indiana’s occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs visit nine Evansville-area schools September 20 on National School Backpack Awareness Day. The USI College of Nursing and Health Professions is participating in the national day of awareness sponsored by the American Occupational Therapy Association. USI students have devised games, skits, and other interactive activities to help children understand the proper use of backpacks and the health risks of misuse. The USI students will teach how to load a backpack correctly with the heaviest items closest to the child’s back and how to wear the pack correctly with two straps over the shoulders. Children and their backpacks will be weighed to determine whether the load is appropriate to the child’s weight. AOTA recommends that the backpack weigh no more than 15 percent of the wearer’s body weight. Depending on the school, students from third through sixth grades will be involved in the voluntary informational sessions. Backpack weigh-in data for fourth and sixth graders will be part of a national study conducted by AOTA. According to AOTA, more than half of the 40-million children in the nation who carry school backpacks may be carrying too much weight. Overloaded backpacks can result in an aching back and shoulders, weakened muscles, tingling arms, or stooped posture. USI has participated in National School Backpack Awareness Day since 2002 when 15 students taught a session at Corpus Christi School. This year the program will involve 92 USI students working in teams to visit the nine schools. Nationwide, more than 930 occupational therapy practitioners and students spread the word about proper backpack use last year. St. Mary’s Medical Center is joint sponsor with USI of the area event. Faculty members from USI’s occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs, along with occupational therapists and nurses from St. Mary’s, will accompany the student teams. Dr. Barbara Williams, USI program director for occupational therapy, and Susan Ahmad, USI program director for the occupational therapy assistant program, said their students are excited about the event. Katie Stratton, a senior in occupational therapy, participated in the awareness day last year and will work with children this year at St. Joseph School. She said the event is an excellent opportunity to educate young students and help them reduce risk factors that can affect the performance of daily activities. While the children and faculty at each elementary school will learn from the USI students, families of the elementary students also will benefit from written information the children take home. In addition to St. Joseph, participating schools are Holy Spirit, St. Theresa, Christ the King, Corpus Christi, Holy Redeemer, St. Philip, Good Shepherd, and St. Boniface. |
Copyright © 2013 University of Southern Indiana. All rights reserved.