The project
Origin of the PhysicAL project
PhysicAL was born to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities (PWD), especially aimed at persons with great support needs, a group with few options for participation in the community.
The purpose of PhysicAL was to provoke a change of mentality that recognized the potential of PWD in their relationship with the environment from an ecological approach.
The needs addressed in the project have revolved around three profiles of interest:
Persons with disabilities
These are people with great support needs who need specialized care to improve their quality of life. Physical activity aimed at these profiles has brought numerous benefits and is therefore the axis of the project.
Professionals and personal care for PWD
In order to be able to benefit from this type of activities, PWD need care personnel to have greater training and specialization in sports and physical activity.
Care and support center
The need for this training is also institutional. The entities involved in PWD
Objectives of the PhysicAL project
PhysicAL aimed to develop a learning course addressed to trainers and health care personnel, and great support needs. The training was key to provide sport and inclusion skills and competences to enhance the health and lifestyle of persons with disabilities by integrating and promoting physical activity in their daily learning and training experience.
Among the specific objectives we aimed to:
Implement the sport practice right of Persons With Disabilities and great support needs (PWD), and promote healthy habits.
Offer PWD the opportunity to participate in physical adapted sport activities, facilitating community life.
Promote a change of attitude in PWD towards physical activities practice and uptaking learning challenges by practicing sports.
Identify barriers and facilitators for PWD sport practice, as well as support resources.
Promote self-determination and motivation through an individually adapted training.
Train the sector’s professionals with inclusive and sports practice skills and create multidisciplinary work teams within organizations for PWD.
Develop adapted materials that tackle the challenges of persons with disabilities’s physical activity learning and practice.
Activities
The project consists of four activities
Activity 1
Activity 1 consisted of the evaluation and analysis of the needs of sport as an inclusive mechanism. It consisted of an analysis of learning needs and defined a matrix of skills, competencies and capacities of the profile of the professional caring for people with disabilities. More information on this activity in:
Activity 2
Activity 2 consisted of the implementation of the PhysicAL Training program with the creation of learning content and its online environment. The PhysicAL training program was designed with a guided and collaborative methodology.
Activity 3
Activity 3 developed the practical and real learning experience of the participants and persons with disabilities and great support needs in the centers of interest.
Activity 4
Activity 4 exposes the result of good practices and inclusion. The best practices were identified and the project was disseminated from the beginning.