‘COOL GRADUATES’ at Sleman Prison Are No Longer Idle, Here’s What Happened!

The ‘SARJANA KEREN’ facility at the Sleman Class IIB Prison, which was previously underutilized, has now been transformed into an innovative therapy center by students from Universitas ‘Aisyiyah (UNISA) Yogyakarta. The target is elderly inmates so that their quality of life can improve, Thursday (04/09/2025).

‘SARJANA KEREN’ itself is an acronym for Sarana Jalan Kelompok Rentan, a special area within the prison. Seeing that this facility was not being used optimally, the UNISA Yogyakarta Student Creativity Program (PKM) team stepped in with a brilliant idea.

They applied the Cognitive Motor Dual Task (CMDT) method, packaged in the form of Exercise Game Therapy (EGT). Simply put, the elderly are encouraged to engage in physical exercises while receiving brain stimulation, such as walking while counting or answering simple questions, all presented in an engaging game format.

The team’s supervisor, Hilmi Zadah Faidullah M.Sc. PhD (PT), explained that the key to this program is the creative use of existing facilities.

“We want to show that simple facilities can have a big impact if used with the right methods. The elderly residents not only move, but also train their brains and interact,” said Hilmi.

The results have proven positive. After two months of the program, the elderly inmates reported feeling more refreshed, less bored, and more motivated. This student innovation successfully transformed idle resources into a source of fitness and happiness for the elderly inmates.