WHAT is the Moving for Health model: the fundamentals of Health & Physical literacies combined together
The expression of Physical Literacy (PL) and Health Literacy (HL) spans multiple sectors, including key settings like schools, health centres, community systems and, sport clubs and associations. These environments are where PL and HL are most evident, making them essential for fostering and promoting the development of these joint literacies.
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- Understand the Moving for Health Model (MfH):
- Explain the core principles of the MfH model.
- Describe how HL and PL intersect within this model.
- Analyse the four settings (schools, health centres, sport clubs and communities):
- Identify and explain the significance of the four settings in the MfH model.
- Evaluate the impact of these settings on promoting HL and PL.
- Critically assess the model's limitations:
- Recognise and discuss the limitations of the MfH project.
- Propose potential improvements or alternatives to address these limitations.
- Utilise recommended resources and evaluate personal understanding
[Step 1] The model in a nutshell: where PL meets HL
- Overview of the Moving for Health model.
As shown in the drawing below, despite their specific composition, PL and HL must be understood as jointly integrated personal characteristics.
All people, regardless of their persona (age, gender, socioeconomic status or ethnic background, …) should have the opportunity to develop these characteristics by tailored approaches (individualised and inclusive). In doing so, people will be educated into responsible, active citizens taking charge of shaping their future (i.e. figuratively holding the world in their hands).
- Explanation of the integration of HL and PL.
Physical literacy and health literacy are complementary skills that empower individuals to lead active, healthy lives. By promoting both and integrating them together, we can foster environments that support individuals in making informed and effective choices related to their physical activity and overall health, ultimately leading to better health outcomes and enhanced quality of life.
Key aspects to consider are:
- Multi-sectoral collaboration: The Moving for Health model calls for programmes that can build networks that support healthy and active behaviour changes. They can promote physical activity and provide health education. PL can serve as a beneficial starting point and innovation tool for movement experiences that can be shared across sectors. Having a neutral and shared overarching understanding of the why, the what and the how of quality movement experiences, brings everyone to the table.
- Local context and culture: Developing movement opportunities that foster PL demands respect for local citizens and stakeholders knowledge, experience and interests, to build solutions tailored to their specific culture and context.
- Inclusive access and public environment design: Moving for Health approaches will have the potential to provide opportunities for people to discover, develop and be accepted for movement interests and levels of ability, creating a society where all can meaningfully participate and thrive through movement.
In summary, the Moving for Health (MfH) model is a comprehensive framework designed to integrate physical and health literacy into a holistic approach to promote lifelong health and well-being.
While HL and PL do not provide a ready made tool box of universal solutions, the three main pillars of the the MfH model are:
[Step 2] Four important settings to build bridges for Health and Physical Literacy
Both Physical Literacy (PL) and Health Literacy (HL) should be understood as contextually sensitive constructs that promote a long, active, and healthy life. Therefore, it is imperative to develop initiatives that help citizens to understand and improve their literacy in these two areas, through education and training in the various areas of social life: school, health, community and sport in particular. By focusing on these four key settings — school, health centre, community, and sports association — the model offers a holistic approach to cultivating healthy habits across different stages of life and societal roles.
Partners of the project believe indeed that these four settings are the best and most realistic starting point to help shape a new environment and take into account the overall context in which each individual is developing.
The collaboration across these four settings makes sense as they each play a complementary role in fostering a comprehensive approach to both health and physical literacy. By working together, they can provide continuous support across an individual's life stages—starting with the school, reinforced by the health centre and the community, and enhanced through active participation in organised sports. The interaction of these settings helps to create a supportive environment where individuals not only gain knowledge but also have the resources and encouragement to make lasting healthy lifestyle changes.
[Step 3] Acknowledgment on the limitation of the project
Focusing on just four settings—schools, health centres, communities, and sport associations—when bridging health and physical literacies can have several limitations.
The project focuses on these four settings as a matter of efficiency due to project lifespan and available budget. Yet partners are aware that other settings could be analysed and developed in the context of PL and HL in the MfH model as well. Something that might be done in the future or through other experiments you might be conducting.
That’s why the partnership conducted a critical examination of the project's limitations and wanted to share them transparently in this training tool:
- Limited Reach and Inclusivity
- Exclusion of Other Settings: Important environments like workplaces, homes, and digital platforms are not addressed, potentially missing out on significant opportunities to promote health and physical literacies.
- Accessibility Issues: Not everyone has equal access to these four settings. For example, individuals in rural areas might have limited access to health centres or sport associations.
- Context-Specific Challenges
- Varied Implementation: The effectiveness of programmes in these settings can vary greatly depending on local resources, cultural norms, and existing infrastructure.
- One-Size-Fits-All Approach: A model focusing only on these settings might not be adaptable to the unique needs of different populations, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, pregnant women or those with specific health conditions.
- Resource Constraints
- Funding and Staffing: Schools, community centres, health centres, and sport associations often face budget and staffing constraints, which can limit the scope and quality of health and physical literacy programmes.
- Sustainability: programmes in these settings may struggle with long-term sustainability due to fluctuating funding and resource availability.
- Integration and Coordination Issues
- Siloed Efforts: Without a comprehensive approach, efforts in these four settings might remain isolated, leading to fragmented and less effective interventions.
- Lack of Coordination: Effective bridging of health and physical literacies requires coordinated efforts across multiple sectors. While the project will aim at breaking silos and encouraging the four settings to collaborate, we take stock that achieving our long term goal can be challenging to achieve within this limited focus.
- Engagement and Motivation
- Varied Levels of Engagement: Individuals might engage differently with each setting. For instance, some might be more active in community settings but less so in health centres.
- Motivation Barriers: Without addressing broader motivational factors, such as personal interests and social support, programmes in these settings might not fully engage participants.
- Evaluation and Measurement
- Assessment Challenges: Measuring the impact of health and physical literacy programmes across these settings can be complex and resource-intensive.
- Lack of Standardisation: Different settings might use varied evaluation methods, making it difficult to assess overall effectiveness and compare results.
[Step 4] Recommended resources to go further
- Societal Expectations and Inner Desires: The Complex Dynamics of Motivation, a video clarifying the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.
- Health and physical literacy interventions in education, sport, and public health settings, the editorial emphasizes the significance of integrating health and physical literacy interventions across education, sport, and public health to foster active and healthy lifestyles.
[Step 5] Homework - Let’s test where you are before moving to the next stop
- Can you pick the right statements regarding the Moving for Health model?
- Pick the settings that are part of the current Moving for Health model
- Choose one experience that you had in one of the different settings (school, community, sport organisation, health centre), proving the importance and essential contribution of Moving for health for different actors : children, adolescent, client, patient, sport participant, or citizen. What will be the difference if you develop PL and HL as a process to learn in the chosen setting?
