Be Part of the Wellness Movement.

Transcription

1 SPORTHEALTHFEELING

2 Be Part of the Wellness Movement Nearly all western countries are facing the same problem: the population is ageing and becoming less fit. We know how to slow this development, but there is no easy way to put physical exercise and nutrition recommendations into practice. Finnish researchers have been at the forefront of international research on health enhancing physical activity for a long time. Furthermore, the public sector in Finland is obliged to organise exercise services for municipal residents. The SportHealthFeeling project brings together Finnish health and wellbeing projects. The strength of this project lies in its different actors and viewpoints, which have been effectively brought together. Combining ideas will create new ways of promoting physical activity, health, and wellbeing. The SHF project offers easy-to-implement, practical solutions to enhance health in the entire population. The innovations presented have been developed and tested in Finland, but they can be transferred to other parts of Europe. Contact us if you re interested in hearing more! Actively yours, Tuula Loikkanen Ms Tuula Loikkanen, Project Manager The Regional Council of Päijät-Häme Tel tuula.loikkanen@paijat-hame.fi 2 3

3 Group support MAKES LIFESTYLE CHANGE EASIER Changing poor lifestyle is easy, but making the change permanent can be difficult, a fact that anyone who has succeeded in losing weight or being more active can confirm. Change is most likely to be successful when individuals themselves understand the key elements, says Raisa Valve from the University of Helsinki. Inspiring intrinsic motivation counselling in people who want to change their lifestyle is one of the most important goals of the GOAL Lifestyle Counselling (Good Ageing in Lahti region; Ikihyvä) model. The operating model primarily aims to influence the lifestyles of people at risk of diabetes, but it also works as a way of improving the quality of life for ageing people with decreased functional capacity. Motivation and self-efficacy are reinforced during eight group sessions, in which the GOAL Counselling group members discuss their eating and exercise habits. The group leader acts as a coach and the participants brainstorm the kind of changes that they would like to implement in their lives. The goals are recorded in a very detailed manner. For example, I m going to eat more vegetables is not enough the goal is reworded as I m going to have salad for lunch three times a week. Then the person figures out what has to be done in order to achieve that goal: e.g. where salad lunches are available or whether they should pack a lunch and take it to work. Research shows that concrete planning helps in achieving goals, even if the details seem obvious, Valve says. The GOAL Lifestyle Counselling model has proven to be an effective way to start lifestyle change. This is demonstrated by a permanent decrease in the weight of many participants. In particular, the change in weight can be attributed to an increased feeling of control over one s lifestyle. Group discussions helped to make many things more concrete. By changing my eating habits, I was able to lose 10 kilos permanently and stop taking blood pressure medication. Seija Sunna, GOAL project participant Ms Raisa Valve, Head of Development University of Helsinki Palmenia Centre for Continuing Education Tel Office switchboard: raisa.valve@helsinki.fi 4 5

4 EXERCISE CLINIC helps DEAL WITH INACTIVITY The best cost-effective way to prevent lifestyle diseases is to get a sufficient amount of physical exercise on a regular basis. People in Päijät-Häme will soon be able to select the right kind of exercise for themselves through an Exercise clinic. The Exercise clinic was developed by Lahti Regional Development Company LAKES in cooperation with public, private and the third sector stakeholders. During the project, the service providers from the physical activity and wellbeing sectors productise their services for the new target group, the inactives. In the Exercise clinic their product cards are matched with the right customers. The primary customers of the Exercise clinic are the healthcare and physical activity professionals who encounter the customers that will benefit the most from adding exercise into their daily lives. The Exercise clinic helps professionals discuss physical activity, determine the barriers to exercising and provide various recommendations for suitable forms of exercise and their service providers. The Exercise clinic is a work method for which the on-line service provides the right tools. Healthcare professionals often find it difficult to discuss physical activity and to give exercise instructions because the right information and service providers are not easy to find. The Exercise clinic provides support in this area, explains Project Manager Heidi Freundlich from LAKES. The Exercise clinic concept is a result of a co-development project. The users requests will determine the service s features in the next phase of concept development. The aim is to make the Exercise clinic available to the public when it could be a forum for sharing experiences and finding exercise companionships and groups. Ms Heidi Freundlich, Project Manager Lahti Regional Development Company LAKES Tel Office switchboard heidi.freundlich@lakes.fi 6 7

5 Activation WITHOUT PRESSURE Operating in conjunction with the University of Turku, Paavo Nurmi Centre produces health-related research information and services. The Centre has noticed that particular attention should be paid to how results from health-related research are communicated. Researcers tend to stand on a pedestal telling people what they should do. People find such behaviour patronizing, Doctor Harri Helajärvi at Paavo Nurmi Centre emphasises. According to Helajärvi, the motivation for physical exercise is best achieved without pressure. Research results should preferably be presented in a way that makes people understand what each piece of information means for them personally. Based on this idea, Paavo Nurmi Centre has developed new ways of disseminating messages that promote health and wellbeing. Advertisements and entertainment compete with health information. We have to be just as interesting in telling how different health studies and lifestyle changes benefit them, Helajärvi says. One of these new methods is a news service that Paavo Nurmi Centre provides for the Finnish Institutes of Occupational Health. It communicates health-related information to employees in a brief and interesting format. The new topics are covered in a simple and practical way. The latest example is a short article about the newly identified risks of prolonged sitting and ways to prevent these risks. Mr Harri Helajärvi, MD Paavo Nurmi Centre Tel , harri.helajarvi@utu.fi 8 9

6 Men on the move The City of Helsinki employs 40,000 people, about 10,000 of which are men. Getting men to participate in exercise groups has traditionally been difficult, but the Men of Helsinki Get in Shape (Stadin kundi kondikseen) project was successful by means of extensive communications and marketing. The project utilised methods that appealed to men, for example, fitness tests, team-like fitness groups and a targeted exercise offering were used to get men moving. In the best case, members of a work community encouraged each other to exercise. We embedded the project in the occupational community with the help of the heads of department, who cooperated with us to think up suitable department-specific methods. The options included fitness testing, which was used to measure personal development, explains Project Coordinator Kaisa Laine from the City of Helsinki s Sports Department. Fitness counselling, gym instruction, exercise groups and wellbeing lectures to help with individual activation. The two-year long Men of Helsinki Get in Shape project ended in June 2012, but city actions to support wellbeing at work are still being arranged for employees in different city departments. One example is a wellbeing square, where employees can get more information about a healthy lifestyle. The staff exercise options for men are more numerous now. For example, we arrange men s aerobics and provide facilities where men from different departments can get together to play team sports, Kaisa Laine states. Kaisa Laine, Project Coordinator City of Helsinki Sports Department kaisa.mari.laine@hel.fi Tel I have a results-oriented attitude towards the project. My goal was to lose weight and maintain it at about 100 kilos and to lift 100 kilos. I ve already been successful at losing the weight. Anssi Rauramo, Sports Director of Helsinki City Sports Department and a participant in the Men of Helsinki Get in Shape project 10 11

7 mbe 2012 SPORTHEALTHFEELING Partially funded by the erdf, THE SPORTSHEALTHFEELING PROJECT IS BEING IMPLEMENTED BY The Regional Council of Päijät-Häme, EU Office Ms Tuula Loikkanen, Project Manager Hämeenkatu Lahti, Finland Tel tuula.loikkanen@paijat-hame.fi City of Helsinki Ms Kaisa Laine, Project Coordinator Paavo Nurmen kuja 1 C, Helsinki, Finland P.O. Box 4800, City of Helsinki, Finland Tel kaisa.mari.laine@hel.fi Lahti Regional Development Company - LAKES Ms Sari Hänninen, Development Director Askonkatu 9 F, 4th floor, Lahti, Finland Tel sari.hanninen@lakes.fi Office switchboard: Paavo Nurmi Centre Mr Harri Helajärvi, MD Kiinamyllynkatu 10, Turku, Finland Tel , harri.helajarvi@utu.fi