The project aims to improve physical activity and functional fitness in persons with risk factors for non-communicable diseases in order to manage and educate the participants about healthy lifestyles
What skills and resources were you able to draw from the community for this project?
The community informed the team with regards to the challenges to be physically active, obtain healthy meals and increase health status. Through participatory research the needs of the community were identified and solutions developed based on the type of activities and food preferences suggested by the community.
The challenges
The challenges are to improve healthy lifestyles for persons with NCD and improve functionality in order to ensure self-care and less medical expenses for an extended period.
Addressing the challenges
This project educates the participants about a healthy lifestyle, with regards to hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis and obesity. Through regular exercise the physical activity levels are increased, risk factors reduced and functional performance and ability improved. The participants are therefore more able to take care of themselves and less dependent on the public health system
The achievements
This project has sensitized the staff of the health clinics about the role that regular physical activity has on healthy lifestyle, the introduction of Biokinetics and their scope of profession and physical activity interventions, have assisted the nurses in having more time available for medication preparation and has reduced the waiting time for dispensing chronic medication in the clinics. The introduction of regular physical activity has resulted in the body composition of the participants, the blood pressure and the health-related quality of life of the participants improving. Regular physical activity increased and fitness improved.
Token Project / Move One Million
Johannesburg, South Africa