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Seniors Fitness Program Placement Student
About Access Alliance:
Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services is a multi-service community agency that works to improve health outcomes for the vulnerable immigrants, refugees, and their communities. We do this by facilitating access to services and addressing systemic inequities. The Centre envisions a future in which Toronto’s diverse communities achieve health with dignity.
Position Title: Seniors Fitness Program Placement Student
Placement Type (In-person / Virtual / Hybrid): In-person/Hybrid
Number of Positions Available: 1
Worksite Location and Conditions:
- The student will work in an office setting with assigned workspace and computer
- The student will work in a community recreation setting and will be expected to assist with set-up including the moving of tables and chairs
- Student needs to be fully vaccinated and pass a criminal reference check
Brief Description of Practicum Project:
Access Alliance offers recreation and fitness programming to newcomer seniors and older adults (55+) at its AccessPoint on Jane and AccessPoint on Danforth. Operating as a Seniors Active Living Centre (SALC), AccessAlliance offers a variety of fitness programs to a multicultural community of seniors in-person and online. The fitness programming is well attended with an average of 40 seniors served per day at each site. Fitness programming includes strength and conditioning classes, chair yoga, mat yoga, meditation, low impact classes, and walking programs. The placement student will have the opportunity to assist with program delivery at all levels, including planning, budgeting, promotion, instruction and evaluation. Based on their interest, students will be supported to design and instruct a fitness class for seniors and deliver a health promotion presentation to seniors on a subject relevant to their expertise and our population’s needs.
Learning Outcomes/Goals:
The student will develop the following competencies in the following areas:
- Evidence-informed Program Planning
- Group Fitness design, animation and instruction for older adults/seniors’ population
- Promotion and outreach for participant recruitment
- Virtual and hybrid fitness program delivery
- Quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis skills
- Professional communication skills and teamwork
- Working with multicultural, multilingual vulnerable populations
- Working in a unionized environment adopting an anti-oppression, equity, and inclusion framework
Qualifications/Competencies Required:
- Post-secondary education in health sciences, recreation sciences, fitness and health promotion or equivalent at University/ College;
- Experience with working with ethno-culturally diverse populations in Toronto;
- Excellent computer skills, including ability to use Microsoft Office Suites, with intermediate level skills working with Excel in particular;
- Excellent interpersonal, written and oral communication skills;
- Ability to work independently and as part of team;
- Demonstrated problem-solving, organizational and time management skills;
- Ability to communicate any of the priority languages (e.g. Bengali, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tigrinya, etc.) will be an asset;
- Ability to travel to Access Alliance locations on Jane and Danforth;
Benefits to the Student:
They will have the opportunity to participate in delivering a diversity of fitness and wellness programming for seniors and older adults from traditional strength and conditioning to yoga and mindfulness. They will learn about best practices in senior’s fitness program delivery and how to enact evidence-based interventions in a group setting. They will learn how to adapt exercises as needed to meet the diverse abilities of participants in a seniors fitness program. They will learn invaluable interpersonal skills for engaging vulnerable seniors and older adults in a multicultural multilingual centre. They will participate in community-based research methodology and mixed method realist evaluation practices around how to collect data from diverse communities. They will learn how to work in a team in a unionized organization.
Placement Period:
September, 2024 – December, 2024 / April 2025
Name and Title of Manager:
Cathy Kurelek
Manager, Allied Health and Service & Care Pathways
Application Deadline:
Until filled
To Apply:
Complete an application form by clicking here
For any questions, please contact practicum@accessalliance.ca