The Department of Sports Health and Rehabilitation at Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul) is continuing its meaningful community outreach efforts by running an “Exercise Rehabilitation Camp for Seniors with Knee Osteoarthritis” from March 2026 through June, in collaboration with the Seongbuk-gu Community Welfare Center.

This exercise rehabilitation camp was organized to share the university’s expertise in sports health rehabilitation with the local community and to contribute to improving the health and quality of life for seniors who experience difficulties in daily life due to knee osteoarthritis. In particular, the program holds added educational and social significance as undergraduate students from the Department of Sports Health Rehabilitation and graduate students from the Aging & Exercise Science Laboratory in the Graduate School are participating together to directly conduct rehabilitation exercise programs for seniors in Seongbuk-gu.

Knee osteoarthritis is a common musculoskeletal condition among the elderly. It is often accompanied by pain, limited joint range of motion, muscle weakness, and impaired balance, which can affect walking and daily activities in general. Accordingly, this camp goes beyond simple exercise participation and consists of customized exercise rehabilitation programs tailored to each senior’s joint condition and physical capabilities.

Participating students are carefully monitoring the seniors’ physical conditions and leading the program with a focus on posture alignment, lower-body strength training, balance improvement, and movement training designed to reduce joint strain. They are also actively involved in overall on-site operations, continuously checking for pain and monitoring physical condition during exercises, and ensuring a safe exercise environment.

In particular, this program is drawing attention as a practical training ground where the Department of Sports Health Rehabilitation’s major curriculum is directly linked to the local community. Students are strengthening their professional competencies by applying the exercise rehabilitation theories, assessment methods, and exercise instruction principles they learned in the classroom to actual programs for seniors. At the same time, through direct communication with the seniors, they are gaining firsthand experience in age-specific physical characteristics, on-site response capabilities, and the sense of responsibility required of rehabilitation exercise instructors.

Students from the Department of Sports Health and Rehabilitation who participated in the camp—Park Min-ji, Choi Kyung-myung, Lee Yu-jin, Lim Hyo-rim, and Lee Ga-on—shared their thoughts, saying, “It was very meaningful to go beyond simple volunteer work and apply our major-specific knowledge in a real-world setting while communicating directly with the seniors.” They added, “Seeing the seniors regain their vitality and smile brightly through exercise allowed us to learn and grow even more.”

The seniors who participated in the program also commented, “Since joining the exercise rehabilitation camp, I feel healthier, and my knee pain seems to be gradually improving.” They added, “Above all, exercising with the students has allowed us to spend enjoyable and energetic time together, for which we are grateful. We hope programs like this will continue in the future.”

Professor Chun JiHyun of the Department of Sports Health and Rehabilitation, who planned and led the program, stated, “This initiative holds great educational significance as it allows students to interact directly with seniors in the local community and apply their specialized knowledge in a practical setting.” She added, “It serves as an opportunity for mutual growth, helping seniors regain a healthy daily life while providing students with hands-on, field-based practical experience.”

Through this exercise rehabilitation camp, Kookmin University’s Department of Sports Health and Rehabilitation is giving back to the local community by leveraging the university’s educational and research capabilities, while expanding opportunities for students to put their major into practice and create social value. Kookmin University plans to continue strengthening its cooperative framework with the local community and will launch various programs to contribute to improving the health and quality of life of local residents based on the expertise of its members.