Every day that Randa Shickh goes to work, she is helping to change lives. Randa is a registered kinesiologist/exercise expert at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s Youth Centre for Bipolar Disorder. She administers fitness tests and provides exercise coaching for participants in the program.
It’s an important role, since individuals with bipolar disorder typically lead a more sedentary lifestyle and are less active than the general population. In fact, adults living with bipolar disorder are at a greater risk of developing early onset cardiovascular disease - approximately 17 years earlier than adults without mood disorders and 11 years earlier than adults with Major Depressive Disorder. Helping to make a positive impact in this population is a dream role for Randa and one that she likely never would have discovered if it wasn’t for her experience in the University of Toronto’s Master of Professional Kinesiology program (MPK).
The MPK program gave Randa the skills necessary for her to provide specialized care for her patients at Sunnybrook.
“It provided me with the confidence and knowledge to lead exercise programs and to work with other allied professionals in improving overall patient care,” said Randa.
As part of the program, she completed placements at the David L. MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic, Women’s College Hospital Cardiac Rehab Program and the Cancer Exercise Program at Wellspring. It was during her placement at the Women’s College Hospital Cardiac Rehab Program that Randa developed a strong interest in cardiovascular disease prevention in adolescents with bipolar disorder. She knew right away that she wanted to work in this field and support and educate this vulnerable population. The exercise coaching that she provides at CYBD is also part of a study focused on improving aerobic fitness among adolescents with bipolar disorder. The study aims to examine the impact of behaviour change counseling on improving aerobic fitness for both physical and emotional health among adolescents with bipolar disorder.
“By working with youth earlier in life,” says Randa, “we have the potential to positively impact future health outcomes of those living with bipolar disorder."