Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity and Step Count Compilation for Elementary-Aged Youth Participating in Summer Camp Activities

The summer months have recently been identified as a time of the year when children gain excess weight. Despite contrary beliefs, youth are more susceptible to weight gain and fitness losses during this time. Summer camps have been identified as a possible solution to reduce declines in overall health during these months. The purpose of this study was to establish expected step counts and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) values for a variety of activities in one residential camp. Participants included 188 campers (M age = 8.7). Sessions included a variety of invasion, target, net/wall and fitness activities. Step counts and MVPA were tracked across 51 days, incorporating 839 activity sessions using a NL–1000 (New Lifestyle Inc., Lee Summit, MO, USA) accelerometer to track campers’ activity. Means and steps/minute were calculated for each activity. Invasion games represented the greatest opportunity for campers to engage in physical activity. Findings are useful for researchers and practitioners to evaluate physical activity and MVPA at camp settings.

Improving Youth Financial Literacy: A Profile of Middle School Camp Attendees

The purpose of this paper is to present a profile of middle-school-age youth who participated in a week- long experiential residential camp focused on helping campers learn about and interact with money, personal finance topics, and mainstream financial service providers. Based on pre- and post-test data, it was determined an experiential real-world camp experience can increase the financial confidence and goal-setting abilities of young people.

Effect of a mentoring program for adolescents with physical disabilities attending a therapeutic camp

PURPOSE: Youth with physical disabilities are at an elevated risk for poor psychosocial health. Pediatric medical camps are one common intervention utilized to provide short-term psychosocial support. However, there is a growing criticism that the effects of such programs diminish as participants return to home and school settings post residential camp experience. A post camp support intervention, the first known in the literature, was tested for perceptions of mattering and self-esteem. Specifically, this study examined the psychosocial effect of a year-round mentoring and online support program as an adjunct to residential camp (intervention) as compared to peers that attended only the summer residential experience (comparison group). METHODS: A quasi-experimental design using an intervention and comparison group was implemented. Data were analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance to test for within group and between group effect. RESULTS: A small effect (partial η2= 0.096) between groups (p< 0.17) and a moderate effect (partial η2= 0.133) within groups (p< 0.10) was detected for the mattering construct. A positive effect for self-esteem was not detected between or within groups. CONCLUSIONS: The online and mentoring support program appeared to improve perceptions of mattering three months into implementation. Future implications center on the refinement of the support program and suggestions for further longitudinal research.

508 Cancel Burn Camp: No Way! Our Institutions Creation of a Virtual Burn Camp and What it Taught Us About Our Patients

Introduction Last year we planned and created our own burn camp. We saw a need not being served and jumped in a created a camp experience that was archived in a documentary and received stellar reviews by all who attended. The kids’ camp expectations was exceeded and everyone was looking forward to 2020. We planned for a great 2020 camp experience and then COVID struck. We debated about the safety to proceed with residential camp as we knew it. Other camps cancelled but our inner need to serve wouldn’t let us do this. Methods Our planning committee quickly shifted and began planning for how we can bring that experience to a virtual platform. We engaged our Facebook group and called every kid on our list to inform the parents of the change. We then created a daily schedule and purchased the items needed for all activities. We then sent or delivered these with a gift card to kids that couldn’t make the pickups. Pickups were scheduled in the cities where most of our kids reside. We conducted daily yoga and meditation, cooking classes, painting and campfire stories. We mixed daily online sessions with 3 tailgating meet ups. We invited guest lectures and left the virtual space open for the kids to hang out. Results At the final tailgate/virtual pizza party, we had an awards ceremony and received testimonials from kids and parents about how for the first-time siblings were able to participate. We delivered to 15 kids and had 20 attend the tailgate pickups. On average, we had 16 kids attend daily. Conclusions Parents could see how their child benefitted from this community and the intent of camp. This event revealed exactly where our patients reside from a socioeconomic standpoint. Deliveries to some homes left our volunteers in tears. This helped explain the discrepancy between interest expressed and the numbers that showed daily for events. It also made us recognize that camp means even more as it is an escape from their realities.

Utilizing Mindfulness as an Evening Reflection at Residential Camp

Utilizing mindfulness as an evening reflection at residential camps has been developed as a tool for use at the end of the day during residential camps, though language may be modified for use at the end of classes or day camps. The four lessons in this new 7-page publication of the UF/IFAS Florida 4-H Youth Development Program, written by Heather Janney, were developed as a way for youth to reflect on their activities throughout the day. It is recommended to do only one lesson 15-20 minutes per day.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/4h412

Connectedness as a Predictor of Academic and Youth Development Outcomes at a Summer Day Camp for Low-Income Youth

Organized camp programs impacted over 10 million youth in the United States in 2019 (American Camp Association, 2019). While residential camp programs have shown ample evidence of their potential to produce opportunities for growth and learning (Garst et al., 2011; Wilson et al., 2019), less is known about the benefits of summer day camp programs. Day camp programs have the potential to serve a more diverse group of campers than residential camps (Kimmelman, 2011), and have become popular formats for summer programs designed to enhance academic skills and prevent summer learning loss. This study sought to understand the factors that influenced self-perceptions of academic attitudes and positive youth development at a summer day camp program offering academic and recreational activities for economically vulnerable fourth to ninth graders (n=240). Specifically, the study was interested in the role that camp connectedness played in influencing perceptions of outcomes (Sibthorp et al., 2011). The study found that campers who participated in a summer day camp program reported that their interest in academic subjects increased over the course of the camp. Campers who had higher levels of connectedness to camp reported significantly stronger academic and youth development outcomes than those who had lower levels of connectedness. The study also found no significant differences in connectedness based on camper characteristics such as gender, age, race, ethnicity, school attended, or language spoken at home, suggesting that these variables were not salient in whether a camper felt connected to camp. These findings provide implications for the design and delivery of academically focused day camp programs to enhance feelings of connectedness, including the importance of using an intentional curriculum, offering a variety of academic and recreational activities, employing trained educators and youth development specialists, and being mindful of class and group sizes.

Social Capital, Loneliness, and Peer Relationships of Adolescents who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

There are many documented benefits of social capital to adolescents in general, and for young people who are deaf or hard of hearing social capital can potentially have a buffering effect against adverse life outcomes. Using the Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Questionnaire ( Asher et al., 1984; Cassidy & Asher, 1992) and the Looman Social Capital Scale ( Looman, 2006), this research investigated changes in levels of social capital and loneliness and peer relationships of deaf or hard of hearing adolescents before attending a residential camp and then three, six- and 12-months post-camp. The camp was specifically for DHH adolescents whose primary communication mode was spoken language. The study also investigated associations between social capital and adolescents’ perceptions of loneliness and peer relationships. Results indicated no statistically significant change in social capital and loneliness and peer relations over the four-time points. There was a significant association between one social capital scale, common good, and loneliness. Implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations are made for enhancing social capital development within a residential camp experience.

Exploring accessibility and social inclusion for children with hearing impairments in residential camps through the occupational therapy lens

Children are encouraged to engage in various play, leisure, and social participation activities to enhance the development of life skills, independence, and social skills. A common leisure and social participation activity for children aged 6 to 18-years-old is to attend residential camp. Residential camps provide children a structured opportunity to engage in leisure activities while learning to become independent and self-confident when socializing and making new friends. Attending camp can be a fun and engaging environment to help accelerate growth in key developmental outcomes, such as positive identity, social skills, physical skills, positive values, and spirituality. Within the residential camp setting, children are encouraged to become self-reliant away from their caregivers while participating in their activities of daily living; as well as explore new occupations such as learning new camp songs, swimming, hiking, crafting, archery and other activities provided by the camp. The introduction of the new occupations, in a new environment may present challenges for children with hearing impairments. By attending camp, the child has an opportunity to empower themselves by learning to self-advocate when they are unable to hear or need adapted services. Occupational therapists have the skills necessary to help develop camp programs to be comfortable, restorative, socially inclusive and therapeutic for children and adolescents with disabilities. Using occupation-focused skills and processes, occupational therapists are trained to advocate for and facilitate occupational outcomes that can enhance a person or group’s capabilities, social inclusion, and well-being. Within a residential camp setting, the focus of inclusion should target equal participation in activity, communication, and social acceptance of individuals with hearing impairments. The goal of inclusion can be accomplished through various techniques including policy and program development founded on the principles of social inclusion. The goal of this capstone project was to address the environmental and social needs of a residential camp to meet the physical and social needs of hearing-impaired children. Through the perspective of occupational therapy, camp counselors were provided education on strategies to encourage social skills, communication, and social inclusion within the camp environment. The process included a survey for camp staff with follow-up interviews, to gather information for the needs assessment that was used to create an educational module for staff. The guidebook incorporates inclusionary strategies to help the campers and the staff develop inclusive mindsets and social skills that can be applied within their daily lives. Throughout the guidebook are tips and tricks of inclusion from the occupational therapy lens, in addition to relevant data from the authors research study. The guidebook is then broken down into seven chapters that range from learning the basics about hearing impairment, the camp environment, inclusion strategies, and American Sign Language education.

Deploying Municipal Solid Waste Management 3R-WTE Framework in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and Future

The need for resilience and an agile waste management system in Saudi Arabia is vital to control safely the rapid growth of its municipal solid waste (MSW) with minimal environment toll. Similarly, the domestic energy production in Saudi Arabia is thriving and putting a tremendous pressure on its huge reserves of fossil oil. Waste to energy (WTE) plants provides a golden opportunity for Saudi Arabia; however, both challenges (MSW mitigation and energy production) are usually looked at in isolation. This paper at first explores the potential of expanding the WTE energy production in the eastern province in Saudi Arabia under two scenarios (complete mass burn with and without recycling). Secondly, this study analyzes the effect of 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) practices implementation in a residential camp (11,000 population) to influence the behavior of the camp’s citizens to reduce their average waste (kg/capita). The results of the 3R-WTE framework show a potential may reach 254 Megawatt (MW) of electricity by year 2030. The 3R system implementation in the camp reduced MSW production from 5,625 tons to 3000 tons of household waste every year, which is considered lower than what the surrounding communities to be produced in the same area.