Belmont School of Physical Therapy students recently provided a Health Fair for about 80 elementary students (4thgrade) from East Cheatham Elementary. The Belmont students spent the semester exploring different roles of the Physical Therapist in Health and Wellness related to topics in Dr. Pat Sells’ class. The Belmont students then carefully prepared a series of newsletters that addressed such topics as First Aid, Heart Health, Lung/smoking risks, nutrition and stress management, among others. These booklets of newsletters are packed with games, puzzles and other challenges to reinforce learning, and each student received the 32 page booklet of information.
Additionally, the PT students prepared a series of activities that were used to reinforce the content within the newsletters. First year PT student Diane Smith said, “It was incredibly rewarding to see the positive impact that we could have on these kids.”
This group of DPT students used a porcine lung to demonstrate how human lungs expand and retract, both when lungs are healthy and when they are diseased. “I am never going to smoke,” was heard from the elementary students after seeing the lung demonstration.
