Bridging the gap to being active

How good does it feel to be active?

Because it doesn’t matter who you are, your ability for sports or even whether you have any physical condition – moving is good for everybody.

Last summer, TV personality Gok Wan partnered with We Are Undefeatable – a movement supporting people with a range of long-term health conditions to be more physically active in ways that work for them.

Through this collaboration, Wan – who has asthma – created and featured on easy-to-follow videos for various moods and abilities to highlight two important elements that influence people with long-term conditions when trying to become active: motivation and the need to find right physical activity for each person.

And this is because We Are Undefeatable is a movement supporting people with a range of long-term health conditions to be more physically active in ways that work for them.

The campaign is supported by us with National Lottery funding and it is led by The Richmond Group of Charities (RGC) – a coalition of 12 health and social care charities who work together to help people living with long-term multiple or complex health needs to live well and thrive.  

Together as a collective voice they have the ability to better influence policy and practice with the aim to improve care and support.

The Group also works in collaboration with leading UK charities Mind, the MS Society and Parkinson’s UK.

Fast forward from last summer and in April this year we saw the launch of the latest We Are Undefeatable report, based on the Big Talk public consultation.

This discussion took place last year and gathered input from over 2,000 people, including those living with health conditions, their carers, friends and families, plus those with a professional interest in this area.

Providing the best opportunities for being active

The objective was to inform future campaign resources and initiatives that were put together in one document under the title Bridging the gap: Understanding how to support people with long-term health conditions to become more physically active.

We urge all those with an interest in supporting people with these circumstances to review the important insights it contains. Some that I consider key are:

• almost all the participants (98%) agreed that physical activity is important for managing or preventing long-term health conditions
• the NHS is considered the most trusted source of physical activity advice
• pain and physical limitations are significant barriers to exercise
• health charities play a critical role in supporting people to be active and 86% think it is a priority
• people with long-term health conditions want activities and inspiration to reflect their capabilities and constraints.

One of the testimonies from the report which I find particularly relevant by an anonymous contributor said:

“I feel that with the right support in place – and the opportunity to meet with others facing similar challenges – it would encourage others like myself to find fun ways in which to be more physically active.”

The principle of We are Undefeatable to support those with long-term health conditions to be more physically active is consistent with the pillar supporting our long-term strategy Uniting the Movement that the right range of sport and physical activity opportunities and support should be available for everyone, irrespective of circumstances.

The data and insight captured through the different strands of the Big Talk project enhances our understanding of the barriers faced by people living with long-term health conditions in accessing opportunities to be active.

These also complement the sector’s broader research, such as Sport England and Sheffield Hallam University’s Easier to be Active report.

According to this report, one in three of us in England live with a health condition.

This group is twice as likely to be amongst the least physically active, yet we know that being active can help to manage these health conditions and increase our quality and length of life.

The document also presents us with an important question – if we know that being active can help the most vulnerable, how can the sector help this group to move more?

Easier to be Active highlights fours areas for the health and sport and physical activity sectors to focus on: support, access to activities, strengthening the system and communication.

At Sport England we’re working with a range of strategic partners (alongside the RGC) to enable this, such as the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, NHS Horizons, Active Partnerships, the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Intelligent Health and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Finally, the report also identifies five key characteristics of a positive physical activity experience for those with long-term health conditions (The '5 I’s Framework’) a list of five themes – Individualised, Integrated, Influencers, Inclusive and Informed – that affect the experience of being active among those living with long-term health conditions.

Working together – the key to success

Going back to the Big Talk consultation, its insight tells us not only how We Are Undefeatable can continue to enhance its valuable resources, but how we can continue to collaborate to ensure that everyone inspired to be active has access to the right opportunities and feels supported to do so.

Excitingly, the RGC are also working with others to consider what policy changes might help address the challenges highlighted in the Bridging the Gap report.

Because we know that no one organisation can achieve this alone, we must work systemically together across physical activity and health sectors to ensure pathways into activity are attractive, easy and well supported.

So for me the ask is simple – let’s work together to bring this insight to life.

This will allow us to have the right information and resources at the right time and to help more people living with long-term health conditions to lead active, happy and healthy lives.