Departments
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Week of 17 October 1997 |
Vol. I, No. 8 |
Feature
Article
Fitness for the formerly homeless
SAR students shape up seniors
by Brian Fitzgerald
"I don't know what I'm doing. But I'm doing it," chuckles 85-year-old Joseph as he stretches his right calf with the assistance of physical therapy major Cheryl McMillan (SAR'99). Joseph is all smiles now that he has a place to live and is exercising regularly.
He is clearly having a good time, and he says that he's in better shape now than he has been in years -- thanks to weekly visits from Boston University students. His stretching regimen, however, isn't all laughter and jokes, especially when he gingerly puts pressure on his left calf. "This is my bad leg," he informs McMillan, a graduate student in Sargent College's Geriatric Fitness Assessment course, taught in Boston's South End.
The course, subtitled Geriatric Trends and Cooperative Interventions, is the brainchild of Pauline Hamel, a clinical associate professor of physical therapy, and a Board-certified geriatric clinical specialist. "This has been a dream for me," she says moments before a recent class at the new Concord Street Elder Housing Project, a building that 40 formerly homeless senior citizens now proudly call home.
"The course is not a formal internship," says Hamel, as her students enter the four-story facility. "But it does get the students out into the community and present them with a challenge. Their mission is to assess the physical needs of older people who used to be homeless and to design and implement exercise and health promotion activities for them. The course is not a hands-on physical therapy treatment program, but the students' efforts will help improve the seniors' mobility and overall health -- both physical and mental. It's no secret that exercise makes you feel good."
During the class the students talk constantly with the residents, developing friendships and gleaning valuable information on the elders' lifestyles in order to determine their level of fitness.
"Do you walk a lot?" McMillan asks Joseph as she puts her finger on his pulse and checks his heart rate.
"Sure, especially when it's nice out and my knee doesn't hurt," he answers.
"Where do you walk?"
"To the store."
"How far away is the store?"
"A few blocks away."
The key is to demonstrate "professional curiosity" in determining a tenant's history and physical ability, says Hamel, "while being careful not to overstep boundaries." As McMillan records the information, Joseph vividly recalls his dancing days in the 1930s, when he toured with vaudeville legend Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
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Dorothy, a resident of the
Concord Street Elder Housing Project in the South
End, stretches her leg with the assistance of Lisa
McNamara (SAR'99), a student in Sargent College's
Geriatric Fitness Assessment course.
Photo by Vernon
Doucette
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This "family" on the corner of Concord and Washington Streets began moving into the $6 million complex in mid-August. On hand for the September 8 dedication ceremony were U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy and Mayor Thomas Menino. The facility is the product of a public/private collaboration started by the Committee to End Elder Homelessness, a group of professional women formed in 1991. The Committee's president is Anna Bissonnette (SON'69), the coordinator of elderly health at the Boston University School of Medicine. The residents' Section 8 rent subsidies come from the AFL-CIO and HUD.
"Many of the tenants had been living in homeless shelters for more than 10 years," says Committee Program Director Cathy Laufer, as she points to Bert, who is recovering from open heart surgery and is a bit tentative about exercising. "He had a valve replaced, and he doesn't want to overdo it. But he's trying," she says.
So is Dorothy, who gets help testing the mobility of her legs from Christie Byrd (SAR'99). Clark is gladly taking part in the activities, but that wasn't always the case. "Clark was very shy and rarely came out of his room," says Hamel. "But after a while he was curious about what was going on, and now he's a regular."
Brad Brasfield (SAR'99) says that the years of inadequate health care and limited mobility are quite apparent in the seniors. "But now, as you can see, they're highly motivated to get in shape," he says. "They really look forward to seeing us, and believe me, if we're not here in time, they let us know." Many of the students, however, arrive an hour early to play chess with the tenants. "They usually kill us in chess," admits Brasfield.
Hal, whose sweat darkens his camouflage-colored headband as he does leg extensions, is a former paratrooper who "used to be in excellent shape, but I've been leading a sedentary life the past few years." Born and raised in the South End, the typesetter was laid off during a sluggish period in the economy and driven out of his neighborhood because of skyrocketing rents. "I don't drink or do drugs, and I don't have a history of mental illness," he says, "but I became homeless." For two years he lived in the Long Island Shelter, on one of Boston's harbor islands. "I don't even like to think about those days at the shelter, let alone talk about it," he says. "When one of the representatives of the Committee to End Elder Homelessness told me about this place, it was a godsend. Com-pared to the Long Island Shelter, this is like the Ritz."
Brasfield, who is interested in geriatric care, notes that the residents learn from the students and vice versa. "This works. Every community that has a elderly homeless population should build one of these facilities," he says. "And every facility for the homeless should have a fitness assessment program like this one."
Hamel says that she hopes to expand this new course and make it multidisciplinary. "For example," she says, "we could bring in nutritionists and make the class more comprehensive.