The principal role physical activity plays in contemporary society is increasingly acknowledged from social, environmental and public health perspectives. Drawing from several disciplines this module will consider topical issues relating to the effectiveness of physical activity interventions across the life course on a range of health and wellbeing outcomes.
It will explore how evidence-based physical activity initiatives and interventions in different environments and settings shape behaviour. It will review the value of school based physical activity interventions for children, how workplace settings can be used to facilitate activity and reduce sedentary behaviour, how exercise settings (e.g. indoor vs. green exercise) can be used as a vehicle to drive behavioural change in adults, through to preventing falls and increasing activity levels in the elderly.
There is a growing demand for practitioners to critically evaluate the current evidence-base and gain an understanding of how this knowledge can be translated to inform their applied professional practice. The module will afford opportunities to engage with cutting-edge research and develop transferable communication skills in translating research findings into evaluative summaries that can be used and understood by a range of audiences (e.g. commissioners, stakeholders, policy makers, providers, users and the lay person).
This module will be of particular interest to students pursuing a career in health promotion, public health, teaching, occupational health or the fitness and personal training industry.