Embedding Physical Activity into the University Curriculum

Background
Universities are uniquely placed to influence the health behaviours of students at a transitional period of their life. “Healthy Trinity” is a cross campus committee charged with enabling the vision of a Health Promoting University. One of its guiding principles is to embed health into every aspect of campus operation.
Methods
The physical activity working group of Healthy Trinity consists of academic, operational and student partners working collaboratively. The group commenced work by carrying out a stakeholder consultation process from which a number of projects were developed. Receiving no central funding from College, the group prioritized a delivery model which relied primarily on student engagement to deliver its goals by integrating physical activity promotion into project and research work, as well as extracurricular learning activities.
Evaluation
Several tangible outcomes were delivered. For example, a social marketing campaign created by students from the Trinity Business School informed the design of “active break” resources targeting prolonged sitting during lectures. Physiotherapy students then investigated the acceptability of integrating these active breaks into lectures as part of their final year research projects. Outputs from this work included a suite of active break resources for the college community. Additional projects have delivered an online health promotional tool for all first- and second-year students, student-led social media campaigns, student presentations at national conferences and an academic publication.
Conclusions
Physical activity was successfully targeted at several levels across the university through the active collaboration of academic, operational and student partners.
Practical Implications
By integrating physical activity into curricular and non-curricular activities, students gained exposure to the real-life challenges of designing and implementing a physical activity intervention in a context that is highly relevant to them and their peers. This model appears to be a sustainable way of integrating physical activity into university life.
Funding
Nil