kidsTUMove goes Europe – cordially fit

The project partnership of “KidsTUMove goes Europe – Cordially fit” (KTM) supports a long-term, multi-level and sustainable prevention concept, especially designed for chronically ill children and adolescents. The focus is on an active, healthy and self-esteem-enhancing everyday life. These three components influence each other, with physical activity being the driving force. The main goal of the KTM project is to provide access to sports and exercise programs for children and adolescents with CD and, considering the current situation in Ukraine, for the group of children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Promoting sport participation among this vulnerable group will have a great benefit for the European healthcare system. Thus, long-term consequences of the disease of both a physical and psychological nature can be reduced through this approach, and resilience can be strengthened. In collaboration with the countries of the Consortium Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal the project will develop the first certified advanced training manual for exercise instructors to enable them to train with concerned children and adolescents in a professionally appropriate and sustainable manner. The training manual covers not only the medical background of the children but also the correct use of different soft skills.  

Objectives

The motivation of the project “kidsTUMove goes Europe – Cordially fit” is primarily to increase awareness regarding the relevance of health-promoting physical activity offers in children with chronic diseases (CD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) . 

The project aims to achieve the following objectives: 

01

Development of a training manual that enables exercise instructors to provide qualified care for children and adolescents with CD and PTSD in sports clubs or as part of an exercise program 

02

Design and development of the KTM website combined with an online platform consisting of specific training tools that enable exercise professionals to perform concrete exercises at different levels of difficulty and for different age groups; 

03

Encouragement of concerned children and adolescents, as well as their parents and siblings, to overcome their own barriers and participate in low-threshold, health-related sports programs offered by involved European cities; 

04

Building a European community and network for concerned children and adolescents as well as their parents with the aim to get information about sport offers and exercise programs. The network will be created based on the KTM website, which will provide information about upcoming events and exercise programs in different locations across Europe and in the local language. 

Activities

Research

Research contains all the activities related to designing and developing the kidsTUMove framework. The key step is the literature analysis of already published studies and exercise programs underlining positive effects of physical activity among the target group. The findings will be summarized in a literature review and subsequently put into practice. Within the project, a manual for training with children and adolescents with chronic diseases (CD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will be developed, published and evaluated. 

Innovation

Scientific findings and many years of expertise will form the basis for the trainer manual, taking into account country-specific framework conditions. In addition, the project will promote a network for children, adolescents with CD/PTSD and their parents to enable and encourage  participation in specific sport activities. 

Validation

Validation includes a variety of methods relevant to the application and further development of the kidsTUMove framework and related tools. In order to maximize the effectiveness of these outcomes, it is important that project partners use consistent assessment and validation methods throughout the project. 

Results

The main objective of the KidsTUMove goes Europe (KTM) project is to disseminate the importance of health-promoting physical activity for children and adolescents with chronic diseases (CD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by involving not only the target group itself, but also families, guardians, instructors, and exercise professionals.  

The main deliverable output is the development of a manual for the implementation of an exercise program especially for children and adolescents with CD and PTSD as well as the provision of an online information platform. By using the manual, the instructors will be able to provide qualified care for children suffering from chronic illnesses during the sports program. In addition, through the online information platform, the project will create the opportunity to make information and programs easily accessible to all sectors of the population, disseminate knowledge and build a network of healthcare professionals 

The project will provide useful new skills applicable to the sport-related context of the partner countries and provide a step-by-step culturally sensitive methodological approach that can be useful for the European community to promote and disseminate the importance of physical activity as prevention, therapy and rehabilitation.  

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