Sport4Health Network

The main objective of the Sport4HealthNet aims at creating better access and more opportunities in people’s everyday lives to engage in exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

According to the (Special Eurobarometer 472 – Sport and Physical Activity): “Lack of time is the principal barrier” for the working population to be physically active. Employers are not always willing to give extra time to their employees to practice exercises. Sport for Health Network will reconcile the both: employees lack of time to practice sport and employers fear that allowing them physical activities at work will take a part of time of their working activities by developing: “Employee physical health evaluation & guidelines” that will describe innovative and easy-to-do physical exercises (e.g. stretching and muscular strength activities) targeted to improve general pattern of employees' activity both at work and home, but also to tackle specific locomotor problems seen in workforce (including low back pain, poor flexibility or muscular stiffness). Qualified health and fitness professionals will visit employees on site and teach them how to use the guidelines and implement every-day, short (~ 5 min) and easy-to-conduct stretching and strength exercises, using no or minimal resources (e.g. desk, chair, own body, a colleague), and that could be repeated several time a day by not interrupting the working schedule at the workplace.

Target group and beneficiaries

Target group: For this project, we will recruit approximately 1000 participants per each of 6 Sport4HeathNet countries who are employed in public and private companies. Both male and female participants, different ethnic and socioeconomic groups will be included on a proportional basis for this interventional study, to ensure a broadly representative sample. Indirect beneficiaries: The knowledge we gained through the project will be transferred to the general population across Europe through traditional media and Internet, while specific information will be targeted to public and private stakeholders (employers, employees, public institutions and local authorities) through educational seminars, but also through scientific journals and events.

The overall idea to be evaluated in this project is that advanced practices and knowledge on alternative physical activities in/around the workplace represents a quantifiable health benefit, contributing to increasing healthy lifestyle behaviour in working population, resulting in mood improvement, higher productivity, decrease in absenteeism and lifestyle diseases. The specific objectives of this project are: (1) to evaluate target groups of employees for health profiles before/after an educational intervention; (2) to develop user-friendly manual for physical activity at workplace that includes multicomponent interventions with innovative activities (including stretching and strength exercise); (3) to provide an educational intervention and practical demonstration by a HEPA-recognised professional how to implement novel interventions in work settings; (4) to determine the extent to which the intervention would yield an additional benefit for health profiles ; and (5) to promote and disseminate project results using popular media, non-professional and professional bodies and relevant events. The results of the present project will ultimately lead to a more specific and effective manual for physical activity promotion that should facilitate favourable behaviour modification for active healthy living in the working population. It will also aim to influence stakeholders, including particularly local authorities and employers to improve provision for this type of activity, like facilities, space and time during working hours, etc.