Service-Learning PlanningHealth Issues
Several health issues face the world currently. In almost every society, there is at least one common health issue. Unfortunately, some communities are faced with multiple health problems at the same time. Apart from the current Covid 19 pandemic, the following are common health issues around the world and within my community: access to healthcare, HIV/AIDS, Overweight and obesity, mental health, physical activity and nutrition, tobacco, and immunization. For the service-learning project, I select the physical activity.
Community Needs
The first community needs that can be achieved in reducing the prevalence of preventable health conditions that occur as a result of a lack of physical activity and poor diet. The second need is reducing the number of people who are underweight and obese.
Possible Service-Learning Projects
Indirect: Organize a fundraising event to collect money that will be channeled towards a community education program.
Direct: Assisting in community health awareness programs.
Advocacy: Create a social media forum to discuss the importance of physical activity and a good diet.
Service-Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate the importance of building relationships with students, families, and organizations by evaluating methods to improve communication and increase family engagement in student learning.
- Identifying and participating in service-learning outside the classroom.
- Identify the factors that lead to effective planning, teaching, learning, and classroom management.
Community Partners
- Public health workers
- Opinion leaders in the community
- Families
- Physical education instructors
- Church leaders
Organization
The project is designed to target members of a local church. The church is comprised of people with different health status. Although some church members are healthy and have regular physical activity, others are overweight and lack physical activity. The churchgoers are the perfect group for the project since I can identify several members who are struggling with health conditions associated with a lack of physical activity. Interviewing someone from the church reveals that some people are not aware of the dangers of not having regular physical activity. It is also revealed that most church members don’t have the correct information on how to carry out effective physical activity.
- Service-Learning Project Design
Project Name: Physical Activity Awareness Program
Description
The program will include educational sessions that will be incorporated into the weekly church program. It will also include the distribution of electronic educational materials to church members via social media platforms. The contents of the educational program will be developed by a physical activity instructor and a public health officer and I will be responsible for delivering it in church. The contents will include the importance of physical activity and how to undertake effective physical activity at home.
Goals
- Increase the number of church members undertaking physical activity at home
- Increase knowledge about the importance of physical activity
Objectives
- Encourage church members to begin or increase the frequency of physical activity in their daily lives.
- Teach about the importance of carrying out physical activity regularly.
Resources
- Booklets
- Flyers
- Electronic educational content
- Data bundles
- Money to print booklets and flyers
- Public health knowledge
- Physical activity facts and instructions for safety.
- Whiteboard and writing material
Timeline
The awareness program will start on 28th June 2020 and conclude on 19th July 2020. In the first week, I will distribute the educational materials to church members immediately after the Sunday service. On the same day, I would collect mobile phone contacts for all interested members so that I will share with them the electronic physical activity information. The second week will comprise a two-hour educational session in the afternoon inside the church’s main hall. The session will be facilitated by a public health officer who will explain the importance of physical activity and the probable consequences of not having regular physical activity. The third week will also involve a two-hour educational session on Saturday and another two-hour session on Sunday. During the two sessions, present members will be taken through instructions that will facilitate proper physical activity. The session will be facilitated by a physical activity instructor with my help. After the sessions, participants will be asked to practice at home throughout the following week. The fourth week will be an assessment week. Participants will be asked to take a short quiz that seeks to evaluate whether they understand the importance of the physical activity. A short questionnaire will also be issued. It will ask questions about the number of times participants have undertaken physical activity at home during the past week.
Assessment
The marks from the quiz will be collected and used to evaluate the level of understanding of the physical activity. Additionally, the frequency at which participants undertake physical activities will be evaluated using questionnaires. The data will be collected during the last session of the program.
Sharing the Project
I will share the results of the project with my classmates in class after the project is concluded. I will create tables to present the data on quiz marks and understanding levels. A bar graph will be used to compare the number of physical activity before and after the project.
Reflection
The projects greatly helped me to groom my communication skills in public and improved my interpersonal skills. Addressing many people in the church raised my confidence. All through my life, I have never addressed a large group of people.
- Service-Learning Project Reflection
From the project, I realized that most people in my community don’t regularly practice as a form of physical activity. People are committed to their work until they can hardly undertake a single physical activity in a day.
I learned that I am a good communicator as I managed to convince many church members to participate in the educational program. The experience provided a clear vision of how learning can improve the relationship between community and students. Learning outside class is very interesting and helps us identify gaps in health issues that exist in our communities.
Service Learning Project Time Record
Name
Student ID#
Semester
Date
Event/Activity
Time Spent
28th June 2020
-Enrolling church members to the program
-distributing educational booklets
-Collecting mobile phone contacts and sharing electronic educational contents
2 hours
5th July 2020
-teaching participants on the importance of physical activity
2 hours
11th July 2020
-educating participants about how to undertake safe and effective physical activity
2 hours
12th July 2020
-demonstrating how to perform simple body practices as a form of physical activity
-giving participants quiz papers
2 hours
19th July 2020
-collecting quiz papers and marking
-recording quiz marks
-issuing questionnaires
-collecting questionnaires and analyzing quiz data and questionnaire data
2 hours