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Show 189 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH This paper is a summary of an Integrative Service Project in partnership with the University of Utah Bennion Center and Rise, Inc. Working directly with Dr. Lynne Durrant of the College of Health and Tara Kappos, JETS Director, we created a six-month healthy living program and I administered it to a group of teens with intellectual special needs in the care of Rise, Inc. who participated in an after-school pro-gram (JETS). The goals for this study were to teach the teens in JETS how to make healthy choices and avoid future chronic illnesses, as well as learn social skills and independent living skills using exercise as a functional channel to learn. It is shown that exercise can improve learning immediately before studying. Regular exercise can also lessen severity of emotional disorders by giving the person a great-er sense of control and aid in social learning. Through our research it was found that motivation is the key to an exercise program and the many benefits of it can be realized only if the desire to improve is also present. The curriculum included exercise, motivation through community support, lessons about risk factors for future chronic disease and social and independent living skills. I was supported by Dr. Lynne Durrant, Ph.D., and many others in creating the curriculum. Through pre-and post-assessment, it was determined that this program taught the teens who participated, skills to maintain their health during their adolescence, improved their social skills and lowered their risk factors for chronic illness in the future. Their lives were also impacted by feeling accomplished and making and meeting goals, which improves self-efficacy and emotional instability. We also created new partnerships with the community which helped this group to feel cared for and motivate them to work harder at their goals and make a better future for themselves. To ensure that the program was continued after the study concluded, this curriculum, as well as resources and future lessons, were written, bound and presented to the JETS program at Rise, Inc. REVOLUTIONARY: AN INTEGRATIVE SERVICE PROJECT Jaimie Lynn Riding (Lynne Durrant, Tara Kappos) Bennion Center University of Utah service learning scholars Jaimie Lynn Riding Lynne Durrant Tara Kappos |
