{"id":12192,"date":"2025-04-18T08:26:21","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=12192"},"modified":"2025-04-18T08:26:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:26:55","slug":"a-perfect-fit-partnership-helps-uwl-students-practice-occupational-therapy-give-back-to-community","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/a-perfect-fit-partnership-helps-uwl-students-practice-occupational-therapy-give-back-to-community\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A perfect fit’ – Partnership helps UWL students practice occupational therapy, give back to community"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Through a new partnership, students in the occupational therapy master’s program at UWL are providing personalized training exercises for employees at ORC Industries in La Crosse. This allows students to gain valuable hands-on experience while filling an important need in the community.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Step by step, rep by rep, students in the\u00a0occupational therapy master\u2019s program<\/a>\u00a0at UW-La Crosse are serving the community and gaining valuable hands-on experience.<\/p>\n

During the spring semester, students in\u00a0Kim Servais\u2019<\/a>\u00a0Community Mental Health Promotion course have been working with employees at\u00a0ORC Industries<\/a>\u00a0in La Crosse, offering them personalized training exercises designed to promote wellness in their lives and careers.<\/p>\n

The partnership originated from a meeting between UWL and ORC leadership last fall, and is already proving to be mutually beneficial.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith me teaching this community wellness course and looking for a chance to get the students out of the classroom and more hands-on, this has been a perfect fit,\u201d says Servais, clinical assistant professor of health professions and a 2009 graduate of UWL\u2019s occupational therapy program.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students started by interviewing employees about their needs and developing a personalized exercise plan, just like they were treating a real patient in the field,\u201d Servais says. \u201cIf someone is stressed or holding onto tension, we might have them do some breathing, stretching or relaxation. If someone wants to work on full-body strength, we might have them use weights and pulley machines for strength training. It\u2019s all determined by individual needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

ORC Industries is a not-for-profit organization that specializes in the manufacture of military equipment and outdoor recreation products, and that provides employment opportunities to people with disabilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Exercise regimens are tailored to each employee’s needs and capabilities.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many ORC employees work manually, performing tasks with their hands in an assembly line, which makes the opportunity to step away from their station and engage in therapeutic exercise particularly impactful.<\/p>\n

Servais\u2019 class has 26 students, and the exercise program between UWL and ORC was capped at the same number to ensure each employee would receive one-on-one instruction.<\/p>\n

Scott Iverson, president of ORC Industries, says there\u2019s an even higher demand for this type of program among his staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to need more students,\u201d Iverson quips, \u201cbecause we have the numbers here \u2014 people want to do this. And it\u2019s not just companies that employ people with disabilities. Any facility can benefit from occupational therapy. Without it, you\u2019re more likely to run into cases where people are sick or sore or this or that, and that costs you and your people so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the exercise sessions at ORC, Servais\u2019 students are inspecting various workstations at the company to help improve ergonomics and other measures for injury prevention \u2014 another key aspect of occupational therapy.<\/p>\n

Chancellor James Beeby, who was part of the group that first toured ORC in the fall, says he is proud of the impact students and faculty have already made through this budding partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis all started with a conversation and listening to what the needs are in the community, making sure we have the expertise to support that, and then having our students get hands-on experience working with employees,\u201d Beeby says. \u201cOne student just told me they have so much more confidence now, knowing they can do hands-on work in a real environment like this. It\u2019s great for our students, great for our community. It\u2019s a win-win for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

The employees at ORC Industries say they are enthused to partake in these customized sessions because they have learned new exercise regimens complete with trainings that match their physical challenges. It\u2019s a win-win for both the employees at their workstations, and the assigned occupational therapy students.<\/p>\n

Later this semester, Servais\u2019 students will lead group sessions with ORC employees, helping them practice self-care, communication and emotional regulation \u2014 mental health principles that can be just as important as physical exercise.<\/p>\n

Alex Ricci, a student in the program, says the partnership with ORC has allowed him to take theoretical skills he\u2019s developed over the past few semesters and apply them in the real world. It\u2019s the type of experience that gives students a leg up as they embark on their careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s one thing to learn how to measure someone’s range of motion in a classroom, and (it\u2019s another thing) to do it with a real person in the community,\u201d Ricci explains. \u201cTo be able to practice and integrate all these skills in a safe and supportive setting has been invaluable to me. Plus, the added bonus of interacting with and trying to help someone reminds me why I went into this field in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel Gundrum, another student in the program, says the hands-on experience has been valuable, but there\u2019s another aspect that has made this partnership so special.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part, she says, \u201chas been getting to know our employees, building professional relationships, and actually seeing their improvement and the excitement on their faces when we walk into the building.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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UWL faculty hope to work with ORC to expand the program in the future.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Written by UW-La Crosse<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwlax.edu\/news\/posts\/a-perfect-fit\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Step by step, rep by rep, students in the\u00a0occupational therapy master\u2019s program\u00a0at UW-La Crosse are serving the community and gaining valuable hands-on experience. During the spring semester, students in\u00a0Kim Servais\u2019\u00a0Community Mental Health Promotion course have been working with employees at\u00a0ORC Industries\u00a0in La Crosse, offering them personalized training exercises designed to promote wellness in their lives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":12199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-12192","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/12192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=12192"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=12192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}