Cross-country collaboration for physical activity promotion: experiences from the European Union Physical Activity Focal Points Network

Abstract

Background An analysis of currently existing partnerships and cross-country collaboration for physical activity (PA) promotion is valuable for understanding how such partnerships operate, and how they impact national PA promotion efforts. This study aimed to outline the formation and development of the European Union’s (EU) Physical Activity Focal Points Network, to evaluate its outputs and benefits and to describe its potential and challenges. Methods A mixed methods approach were employed, including document analysis, semi-structured interviews with key officials and an online evaluation survey with the focal points. Results The network was founded in 2014. Its main task is to coordinate the national collection of information for the EU’s Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) Monitoring Framework. Besides collecting data, focal points usually meet twice a year to share best practices and plan activities for the promotion of PA within the EU. The results of the evaluation survey show that participation in the network helped members specify goals for PA promotion, gain more knowledge regarding how to promote PA, identify more opportunities to promote PA in their country and to join a collaborative project with other countries. Conclusions The study shows that the EU Physical Activity Focal Points Network may serve as an example of successful cross-country collaboration in PA promotion. The network has been able to make a contribution to monitoring the implementation of the EU Council Recommendation on HEPA across sectors in particular and of PA promotion in the EU in general.

Do local governments in Poland care about the physical activity of the local community? Health promotion activities targeting physical activity organized by local government units

“…This issue requires a practical approach and the implementation of solutions, which can be defined in a nutshell based on the available literature and the scrolling advice on social and health activation. Undoubtedly, to expand the thinking on the dissemination of physical activity, such activities should be undertaken as [9,13,23,24]: mapping of diverse stakeholders (outside the sports sector) who influence community physical activity; inclusion of multiple actors in the process of thinking about policies that affect population physical activity, including -the vision, goals of programs, as well as operational activities; education about the important role of influencing physical activity in different contexts among different actors (including -from the traditional sports sector); promotion of cross-sectoral cooperation, leading to the search for points of contact between different public policies that can affect community physical activity. In addition, an important, and often underestimated, aspect of health promotion, especially during the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, is the use of social media and popular images of influencers and celebrities [25][26][27][28].…”