engleski

Healthy living, volunteers in parks: opportunity for health and physical activity in the community throughout the lifespan

Background: Healthy Living, co-financed by the European Social Fund, is the Croatian national health promotion project implemented by the Croatian Institute of Public Health in collaboration with 21 county institutes of public health. The project aims to improve physical, mental and sexual health of the population by reducing behavioral, biomedical and socio-medical risk factors and by creating supportive environments that enable all citizens of Croatia good health and high life quality. The project consists out of five key areas: Health education, Health and physical activity, Health and nutrition, Health and the workplace and Health and the environment. The aim of this presentation is to give an overview of Healthy Living with an emphasis on the Health and the environment area and the opportunities it gives for health and physical activity to all people, especially children. Methods: Volunteers in parks activity within the Health and the environment area aims to motivate children and families to adopt healthy lifestyles by spending as much of their free time as possible outdoors, in parks, engaged in active play. In order to create nation-wide preconditions for health promotion and protection in parks it is planned to adapt one park and to organize 12 health promotion activities in parks per year in all 21 Croatian counties. The organized activities will be administered by the professionals and related to health promotion. Besides the obvious physical health benefits in reducing risk factors for noncommunicable diseases, participation in activities serves as an opportunity to both people and the communities. Children and their families can get more proficient in motor and social skills, develop pro-social behaviors including social integration of children with developmental difficulties and intergenerational solidarity, build friendships, learn the strength of and ways how to actively contribute to their communities, and participate in activities for preserving the environment. Communities can grow stronger by engaging all the local stakeholders from decision makers, via institutions and non-governmental sector to individuals willing to actively participate. Results: The implementation of the project started in all Croatian counties. Park adaptations are planned for the 2019, and park activities have started in 2018. In 2018, 158 Volunteers in parks activities were administered with over 17, 000 participants. 21 county public health institutes, 21 local governments, over 80 schools and kindergartens and more than 150 nongovernmental organizations participated in the organization of these activities. Conclusion: The Volunteers in parks activity within the Healthy Living project is an opportunity for widening the traditional health promotion practice aimed at children and families. It encompasses several public health related priorities including health throughout the lifespan, community empowerment and environment protection. All activities are available to everyone, cost free and adjusted to vulnerable groups thus promoting equity. Besides its national context, and due to the global similarity of modern public health concerns, the project methodology is transferable to other countries.

Public Health, Risk Factors, Health Promotion, Healthy Lifestyle

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