Informational Report - First Draft

Isaiah Jones

Professor Paudel

Eng. 102

3 February 2015

Is Writing Important in Health and Human Performance?

Writing is a task we've been doing for most our lives. It’s been an important to us ever since we learned how to do it in preschool. Most of us write every day, whether it’s a simple text message, email, or ten page research paper for an English class. It has become very significant for us, especially as we grow older and further our education and careers. Some careers may require more writing than others, but as we all know a vast majority of jobs will require some type of writing skills. English majors need writing because their careers will be focused on it, such as writing books and poems. But what about those who major in Health and Human Performance? Do people in this field even need to write? The answer is yes, and I will explain to you the many different ways writing is used in this field.

Health and Human Performance, also more commonly known as Exercise Science, is a growing field at many universities and is becoming a very popular major among students. This major is common for athletes and students interested in health and exercise. The main objectives for this field are for students to learn about the science of the human body, how to improve health with exercise and diet, injury prevention, and several more health related topics. In fact, Prairie View A&M University states that their goal for Health and Human Performance is “to introduce every student to the potential benefits of a well defined exercise program and to provide planned experiences that will result in knowledge about the value of physical activities, essential motor skill development, stamina, strength and those social qualities that will last a life time” (“Health and Human Performance”). The university’s goal is for its students to gain a better understanding of exercise, health, and the body. A Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science gives rise to a variety of career choices such as: athletic training, physical and occupational therapy, nursing, teaching, and many other health related professions. Writing is significant for all of these careers. The purpose and genre of the writing depends on the job the person has. For example, a nurse would have different writing assignments than a personal trainer.

Athletic training is a one of the common careers for a student majoring in Exercise Science, and is also what I plan on becoming in the future. Athletic trainers’ jobs are to prevent and treat the injuries of athletes. They work with athletes for college and professional teams. Although they’re usually working with patients, writing is a big part of their daily lives. They write down records of each player and keep track of their rehabilitation progress. “The trainer is also to work with the team physician in designing an rehabilitation program for an injured athlete… implementing a program that will help the injured player heal properly and maintain is [his] endurance and strength… keeping records of each athletes progression throughout the rehabilitation process. The records must show when an athlete was injured, what the injury was, the prognosis, prescribed rehabilitation, and progress” (Morais). They must write down workouts, rehab programs, and records of progression for injured athletes. Athletic trainers stay extremely busy with all this paperwork, and it shows that writing has a huge impact on their daily lives.

Physical Therapy is another common profession in the field of Exercise Science. “Physical Therapy is a branch of rehabilitative health care that utilizes different exercises and equipment to improve, restore, or maintain a patients physical mobility” (“Reading and Writing for Physical Therapists”). The job of a physical therapist is to treat injured patients with exercises so they can restore the function of the injured body part. Writing also plays a significant role in this job too. Physical therapists must write charts for every patient that includes a list of exercises and medication, treatment and exercise plans, and patient evaluations.

People in careers in this field also do a variety of scholarly writings. They may write magazine articles, proposals, research papers, case reports, and blogs. In this case report titled, “Use of the Theoretical Domains Framework to Develop an Intervention to Improve Physical Therapist Management of the Risk of Falls After Discharge”, physical therapy experts Susie Thomas and Shylie Mackintosh wrote this report on their concerns of patient falls after being discharged from the hospital. In this seventeen page report, they gave background information and a purpose, a case description, outcomes, and a discussion. They clearly described the problems and even used charts to give the audience a visual of the data. In another academic writing titled “Meaning and Misunderstanding in Occupational Forms: A Study of Therapeutic Goal Setting”, occupational therapists Gary Kielhofner and Laura Barrett wrote about goal setting for this profession. The objective they stated in the article was “This study examined occupational therapists’ use of the occupational form of goal setting as therapy and its impact on clients” (Kielhofner & Barret). The main focus of the article is how clients are influenced by their therapists’ goals. The therapists used qualitative data for the method to get accurate results and conclusions. From these academic sources, it’s evitable that writing is very important for this field.

Now that we understand how writing is used in Health and Human Performance, we can compare and contrast the writing for this field with real people in the profession. I interviewed two experts in Health and Human Performance about how writing impacts their jobs. The first person I interviewed was Mike Jett, a co-owner of a fitness business and university faculty instructor. He earned a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology, and said writing is a very important aspect of his job. Mr. Jett says he writes daily, whether it be an email or proposal, and “through my fitness business I send out a weekly newsletter to over 1000 people. I also post a modified version of this newsletter on a Health/Fitness Blog hosted on the Courier Journal website”. Writing is very important for his job because he has to let his audience know of the business he owns. The genre of writing he mainly does is informative with his audience being Exercise Science students and people interested in health and fitness. The second person I interviewed was Susan Peacock, a teacher at the University of Louisville. She earned two Master’s degrees, one in Education and the other in Nutritional Sciences. Writing is also an essential part of her job. She writes emails, journal articles, and fitness manuals. Mrs. Peacock stated, “I am a contributing author in an ACSM fitness manual. When the department receives grant money in an area of my expertise, I write for the grant”. Writing for her is extremely important because it potentially gives her department grant money. The genre of writing she mainly does is expository and audience is her partners at the university. Although their writings are similar as those of other professions in this field, they do more scholarly writings.

Writing is important for many different careers and depending on what it is, decides how much and what type of writing you do. Some fields of study may require more academic writings, while some may be more simplistic. Exercise Science careers will require some sort of writing, and given the examples, we see they can be either academic like career reports or nonacademic like patient charts. For that reason it is evident that the answer to the question of whether writing is important in this field is yes.

Works Cited

"Essay/Term Paper: Athletic Training." Essay on Essays. Research Paper on Athletic Training. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.

"Health and Human Performance." College of Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.

Kielhofner, Gary, and Laura Barret. "Meaning and Misunderstanding in Occupational Forms: A Study of Therapeutic Goal Setting." Google Scholar. N.p., May 1998. Web. <http://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=1862543>.

"Reading and Writing for Physical Therapists." Reading and Writing for Physical Therapists. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.

Thomas, Susie, and Shylie Mackintosh. Use of the Theoretical Domains Framework to Develop an Intervention to Improve Physical Therapist Management of the Risks of Falls After Discharge. Rep. 11th ed. Vol. 94. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Ebsco Host. Web. 1 Nov. 2014. <http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7bd940bd-ad0c-48db-8ebf-9ff8ac1719b0%40sessionmgr4001&vid=2&hid=4114>.