November 12, 2016
On Saturday, November 12th , Phi Delta Chi participated in our very first Great Gator Health Fest (GGHF). GGHF is an annual College of Pharmacy event hosted by APhA-ASP where organizations and other professional schools gather to provide health information and screenings to Gator fans pouring onto campus before the football game. Phi Delta Chi’s service and professionalism committee was
excited to present our “Aging Simulation” booth, a station that was fun for children and educational for adults. The booth activities simulated a “day in the life” of an elderly patient with uncontrolled diabetes. Participants had to complete a series of activities such as buttoning up a t-shirt and placing pills (skittles) in a pill box. We made the participants wear certain items to make the activities challenging: gardening gloves to simulate loss of sensation in the hands, glasses with small holes to simulate the tunnel vision associated with glaucoma, corn kernels in their shoes to simulate diabetic neuropathy and an ankle restrictor to simulate the loss of mobility with old age. Although watching everyone try to complete the seemingly easy tasks in gear, participants usually ended with laughs, some spilled skittles, and valuable lessons learned. After speaking with one mother, she eagerly came running back to our booth moments later with children in hand. She reported that she suffers from peripheral neuropathy and loss of sensation in her hands and wanted her kids to understand why she can’t always keep up. After not being able to complete the tasks, they left with a little more appreciation and understanding for their mom. Amit Patel, service and professionalism co-chair, says “it’s moments like this that can make your day when someone sees the value of what we are trying to achieve, not only as pharmacists, but health professionals”. Not only was our booth visited by families, but also faculty (including Dr. Sando who wants to incorporate the activity in her skills lab) and our fellow classmates. Lucia Curihuaman, Phi Delta Chi WIG, says “it was great seeing our booth catch the attention of kids, adults, other students, and even faculty! Everyone was intrigued by the simulation and how fun it looked. Can’t wait to see what activities we can add to the booth next year!” Reflecting back on the awesome experience, I think it is safe to say Phi Delta Chi will be making many more GGHF appearances!
BY: SARAH MAYER
On Saturday, November 12th , Phi Delta Chi participated in our very first Great Gator Health Fest (GGHF). GGHF is an annual College of Pharmacy event hosted by APhA-ASP where organizations and other professional schools gather to provide health information and screenings to Gator fans pouring onto campus before the football game. Phi Delta Chi’s service and professionalism committee was
excited to present our “Aging Simulation” booth, a station that was fun for children and educational for adults. The booth activities simulated a “day in the life” of an elderly patient with uncontrolled diabetes. Participants had to complete a series of activities such as buttoning up a t-shirt and placing pills (skittles) in a pill box. We made the participants wear certain items to make the activities challenging: gardening gloves to simulate loss of sensation in the hands, glasses with small holes to simulate the tunnel vision associated with glaucoma, corn kernels in their shoes to simulate diabetic neuropathy and an ankle restrictor to simulate the loss of mobility with old age. Although watching everyone try to complete the seemingly easy tasks in gear, participants usually ended with laughs, some spilled skittles, and valuable lessons learned. After speaking with one mother, she eagerly came running back to our booth moments later with children in hand. She reported that she suffers from peripheral neuropathy and loss of sensation in her hands and wanted her kids to understand why she can’t always keep up. After not being able to complete the tasks, they left with a little more appreciation and understanding for their mom. Amit Patel, service and professionalism co-chair, says “it’s moments like this that can make your day when someone sees the value of what we are trying to achieve, not only as pharmacists, but health professionals”. Not only was our booth visited by families, but also faculty (including Dr. Sando who wants to incorporate the activity in her skills lab) and our fellow classmates. Lucia Curihuaman, Phi Delta Chi WIG, says “it was great seeing our booth catch the attention of kids, adults, other students, and even faculty! Everyone was intrigued by the simulation and how fun it looked. Can’t wait to see what activities we can add to the booth next year!” Reflecting back on the awesome experience, I think it is safe to say Phi Delta Chi will be making many more GGHF appearances!
BY: SARAH MAYER