Energising Lives: Physical Literacy in Perspective through the Lifespan Len Almond

1. Energising Lives: Physical Literacy in Perspective through the Lifespan Len Almond BHF National Centre for Physical Activity and Health May 19th 2008

2. Three Questions about Physical Literacy • What is Physical Literacy • What relevance does it have to? • Individual lives • Teachers and the PE Curriculum • Movement specialists’ perspectives on their role • How do we promote it? • What messages do we project? • Pedagogy • The art and science of reaching people • The art and science of engagement

3. Tasks for Today • Part 1 Why do people avoid physical activity? • Part 2 A Positive Perspective • Part 3 Practical Illustrations • Part 4 Pedagogy • Finally Return to my three questions

4. PART ONE

5. Three Problems • Poor understanding • Low Priority • Not Valued

6. Participation Levels • 35% of men • 24% of women Achieve 5 x 30 minutes of moderate activity each week 70% inactive Health Survey for England 2004

7. UNDERSTANDING • ONLY 10% of general public and 16% of professionals understand the public health and well-being message for physical activity

8. No Time or Low Priority? Public Health Message Adults: 2% of your day Overweight/Obese older adults 4% day of your Most adults spend 19.3% of their day in front of a screen – adults in third age much longer

9. Activity at Weekends

11. However • 62% of people reported that they would not be motivated to exercise even if their life depended on it BHF YOUGOV survey September 2007

12. Inactivity Impairment The Consequences of inadequate Physical Literacy

13. Personal Responsibility: A Myth? What are the implications in the rise of: • Personal Trainers • Health Trainers • Life Coaches • Mentors • What has happened to Expert Patients?

14. PART TWO

15. Promoting Physical Activity : enabling a person to flourish Well-being Resource • Have more energy, dynamism, vitality, and resourcefulness Enrichment: enriching lives • Widen perspectives • Extend capabilities • Enhance quality of living Reserve • Recover more quickly from major illness, stress, hospital treatment

16. We want people to Love being Active

17. This is an Educational role for Physical Literacy through the Lifespan • Cultivate • Nurture • Cherish • NOT Squander So that people: • Understand • Appreciate • Value

18. PART THREE

19. Consequences of Not Valuing Physical Literacy: Older Adults • Sarcopenia • Inactivity Impairment • Loss of independence • Closed Horizons • Poor quality of living

20. Percentage of Older Adults who are inactive. HSE 2004

21. Inactivity –the consequencesProportion of women aged 70+ able to walk for different periods of time and lengths of walk, 100 1/4 of a mile or more 80 30+ min 60 15,<30 min 5,<15 min 40 <5 min 20 0 70-74 75-79 80+ 80+ 70-74 75-79 Age

22. 70 yr old females active, strength-trained sedentary The same difference in muscle size is seen between a 30 and an 80 yr old (Adapted from Sipilä & Suominen Muscle Nerve 1993;16:294)

24. Components: Games People Play Walk with Me Out and About Just Me Dance with Me Chair Chi Wii Gardening Care Homes Olympiads Moving More Often

25. Consequences of Not Valuing Physical Literacy: Early years • Sedentary Children • Inactivity impairment • Major increase in fat between 3 and 7 (adiposity rebound) • Narrow perspective on children’s movement education (lack of energetic activity and skilful) • Closed Horizons

26. Adiposity Rebound

27. Physical Development:Foundation Curriculum • Move with confidence, imagination and in safety. • Move with control and co-ordination • Travel around, under, over and through balancing and climbing equipment • Show awareness of space, of themselves and of others • Recognise the importance of keeping healthy, and those things which contribute to this • Recognise the changes that happen to their bodies when they are active • Use a range of small and large equipment

28. Part Four

29. Pedagogy The art and science of engagement with people for productive learning

30. To raise Participation levels teachers need to: • Reach out and connect with young people particularly those who are sedentary and underserved. • Engagethem productively, enthusiastically and in a caring environment. • Draw Out keep them interested and wanting more. • Stretch extend them • Generate a longer term commitment to sport, dance and any form of physical activity.

31. Well-being as Enablements/Capabilities • What a person has • What they can do with what they have • How they think about what they have and can do

32. This is an Educational role for Physical Literacy • Cultivate • Nurture • Cherish • NOT Squander So that people: • Understand • Appreciate • Value

33. Finally

34. Three Questions about Physical Literacy • What is Physical Literacy: need for an alternative model • What relevance does it have to? • Individual lives Language • Teachers and the PE Curriculum Language and Focus • Movement specialists’ perspectives on their role Language and Focus • How do we promote it? • What messages do we project? Needs to rethought • Pedagogy • The art and science of reaching people • The art and science of engagement

35. Physical Literacy Critique • Language • Assumes a rounded model of physical literacy which is missing in exercise implementation • Focus on movement competence • Missing ingredients • Physical Literacy as Therapy • Energy systems • Neuro-science insights

36. Physical Literacy has three characteristics: • A Love of being physically active • The physical competence, motivation, confidence and understanding to: • perform a range of physical tasks necessary for everyday living • appreciate and value being physically active on a regular basis • Maintain this commitment at an individually appropriate level throughout life.

37. It has the power to: • Energise lives • Enrich lives and enhance the quality of everyday living • Be a therapeutic tool • Treatment and managements of specific medical conditions • Restoring functional capacity to an optimal level • Healing (not in a religious connotation) • Personal growth It implies Personal Responsibility for one’s well-being.

38. Thank You With your help we can promote Physical Literacy YOU REALLY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

39. Contact: Len Almond Foundation Director BHF National Centre for Physical Activity and Health Website: www.bhfactive.org.uk Tel: 01509 611473 Email:len.almond@btinternet.com