The Legacy Midtown Park Wellness Department partners with Texas Woman’s University to offer hands-on internships for Kinesiology and Health Science students. Since 2021, when the program began, nine students have completed the program and gone on to graduate programs in physical therapy and occupational therapy.
Elizabeth Niksich, Director of Wellness, manages the interns and acts as their mentor. The internship program is designed to offer students experience in exercise prescription, group fitness instruction, and project management or a research study.
An example of a project is the Stair Challenge Training Group. This was a motivational project designed to improve confidence in using stairs in the event of an emergency. One resident joined the challenge that needed to climb up and down stairs to eat dinner at her son’s house. The whole situation was causing her a lot of stress. During personal sessions, she worked on strength training and skills, and built her confidence to be able to climb two flights of stairs. She even practiced in shoes she may wear to her son’s house for dinner. She is thrilled with the progress and looking forward to celebrating with her son and his family during the holidays.
Residents enjoy the innovative programs and the extra attention provided by the interns. We are grateful for this partnership to train the next generation of therapists, introduce them to senior living, and have additional wellness programming for our residents.
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