Kinesiology graduate Ashley Zahavich has started a program called PSA (which stands for Power, Strength and Agility) Fitness to help prostate cancer survivors recovery and gain quality of life through a mix of yoga and strength training exercises. To learn more about the program, click here.
Helping Caregivers Care for Themselves
Andi Celine Martin (Kinesiology)
Andi Celine Martin is a student at Dalhousie who is pursuing her Master’s of Science in Kinesiology. She is working on a study that focuses exclusively on caregivers who directly support someone undergoing cancer treatments. She cites a 2008 study published in the Journal of Aging and Health that says caregivers experience the same amount of, if not more, psychological distress than the cancer survivor they support. Many things contribute to this stress, including the caregiver’s ability to take care of their own health.
Martin has set up a yoga class to see whether physical activity, which has been proven to have a positive effect on mental health, will help the caregivers in her study. The participants in her study range in age from 25 to 64 and since most of them have no experience, Martin says she will start out easy.
To learn more about her study you can read the full story at http://thecommoner.kingsjournalism.com/?p=22481
Getting “Kinnected”
Kinesiology alumnus Jeff Zahavich holds court with current students at the Kinnections event (Nick Pearce photo)
Kinesiology: the study of human movement.
“Kinnections”: understanding where your kinesiology degree might go to.
From business to private practice, from coaching to research, alumni of Dalhousie’s kinesiology program brought various professional perspectives to campus earlier this month at the Department of Kinesiology’s “Kinnections” event.
Kinnections was organized and hosted by kinesiology professor John Kozey, who introduced the five guests as Dalhousie alumni who have all taken their degree in different directions for success, helping illuminate the many options available to students when it comes time to graduate.
There were several speakers and when the event was over, students took the time to chat with each of them. Second-year kinesiology students Erica Linde and Cynthia Ly both felt the event was worthwhile, and that they would attend again in the future.
To learn more about this event read the DalNews story.
Student Congratulations – Audrey Prayal-Brown
Audrey (left) takes to the podium with her teammate
Congratulations to Audrey Prayal-Brown, an MSC Kinesiology candidate in the School of Health and Human Performance (Supervisor – Dr. John Kozey) who recently won gold and silver at the 2011 Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships in Durban, South Africa. The sport of lifesaving is competitive lifeguarding – certified lifeguards put their skills to the test against each other. It is the only sport in the world where participants first learn their skills for a humanitarian purpose and only later use them in competition. It is internationally recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Commonwealth Games Federation.
Audrey won a gold medal in the Line Throw competition – the competitor throws an unweighted line to a fellow team member located in the water approximately 12 m distant and pulls this “victim” back to the poolside – with a time of 11.17s, a Canadian and Commonwealth record. Audrey and her team won silver and set a Canadian record in the Mannequin Carry Relay – a team of four lifesavers must swim 25m carrying a 40lb mannequin before passing it to the next member of their team – with a time of 1:36.76.
In addition to this success, Audrey also presented “Buoyancy testing: study 1 – Determination of Underwater Buoyancy” at the 2011 National Association of Canadian Ergonomists Conference in London, Ontario. The presentation is the first of a three phase study that Audrey is working on with a team of researchers comprised of John Kozey, Dana Sweeney and Paul Potter. She presented the same study at the Atlantic ACE Conference this past spring and won the Undergraduate award.