Get FIT helps disabled

Get Fit Coordinator helping during therapy

The Get FIT program at Rowan University provides off-site fitness and nutrition screenings that involve 40 Health and Exercise Science majors. It also provides help to 25 clients on-campus. This is all it takes to send the Get FIT program soaring to other campuses and communities.

The Get FIT program is a grant-funded program designed to help improve the health of the disabled and their caregivers in Gloucester, Camden and Salem counties. The Family Resource Network, an agency geared toward the same goals, has teamed up with Rowan to launch Get FIT.

“This program is not just to help people with disabilities, but their care-givers as well,” said Dr. Leslie Spencer, Rowan’s liaison to the Family Resource Network. Spencer assists with hiring students for the program and teaching a nutrition course for the program’s workers. The material learned in the course is then used to provide individual consultations to Get FIT participants.

Last year, Get FIT received funding from the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities (NJCDD). While the program did not receive any funding from the NJCDD this year, they are prepared to earn funds in the future.

Dr. Barb Wilhite, Get FIT coordinator, helps to manage the exercise routines of clients and their care-givers.”

“We try to make health and fitness a part of their daily lives,” Dr. Wilhite said during a workout session on April 21.

Five participants attended the Wednesday morning session in the Education Hall’s fitness lab. All five are from the Arc of Salem County, a non-profit agency supporting adults with developmental disabilities needing job placement. The participants meet three times a week for one hour. Workouts begin with 30 minutes of cardio, and then move on to different exercises that target both their muscular strength and flexibility.

Get FIT clients are not only encouraged to work out in the fitness lab, but also on their own at home. Each client is given a pedometer and a booklet containing example exercises and instructions.

This program not only helped the Arc clients become more aware of their own health, but also offered the Get FIT team and volunteers opportunities to expand their horizons.

Sara Williams, a graduating Health and Exercise Science major and member of the Get FIT team, will always remember her experiences working with the participants and crew.

“Being a part of the Get FIT program is rewarding for [the participants], but it is equally rewarding for us. This is a great experience,” Williams said.