Background
Preparatory basic education and training (FGU) is a flexible educational programme in Denmark for young people under the age of 25 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Its purpose is to prepare young people to enter upper-secondary education or employment.
Initiatives promoting physical activity among FGU students have the potential to prevent disease, promote health and support young people's engagement in education and employment. However, knowledge about FGU students' health and well-being remains limited, as does knowledge about methods for developing, implementing and disseminating effective initiatives.
Aim
MOVE FGU has implemented an intervention at three FGU schools to develop and implement effective, locally embedded actions that promote physical activity.
The analyses examine:
- Whether the intervention is feasible.
- Whether students' physical activity changed, based on questionnaires and accelerometer measurements collected before and one year after the intervention.
- Whether institutional practices related to physical activity, health and well-being changed, based on questionnaires collected before and one year after the intervention.
- How the intervention was integrated into everyday practice, and which mechanisms and processes appear to have influenced its implementation based on qualitative interviews.
Based on the results, the project will assess the intervention's potential and the feasibility of developing a model for promoting physical activity among FGU students across Denmark.
Design
The MOVE FGU intervention is based on Group Model Building, a systems-oriented and research-based method, and consists of two co-creation workshops. During the first workshop, factors influencing students' physical activity were identified and combined in a systems map. During the second workshop, local working groups were established to develop and initiate actions intended to create conditions that support physical activity among students.
The actions were developed locally through co-creation processes to ensure relevance, shared ownership and adaptation to the local context. FGU leaders, staff and students participated alongside local stakeholders such as municipalities and sports associations in the development and implementation of the selected actions.
MOVE FGU is a feasibility study in which a promising intervention is tested on a smaller scale. The intervention was implemented at FGU Hillerød in collaboration with Hillerød Municipality, FGU Korsør in collaboration with Slagelse Municipality, and FGU Øresund in collaboration with Helsingør Municipality. The three institutions had a combined student population of approximately 500.
Partners
The project has been followed by a national expert group comprising representatives from the FGU sector, municipalities, organisations and public authorities. The group has contributed to refining the intervention and research and to supporting the dissemination of results to practice.
The expert group includes representatives from:
- FGU Danmark
- Uddannelsesforbundet
- the Ministry of Children and Education, Danish Agency for Education and Quality (STUK)
- the Danish Heart Foundation
- Sund By Netværket
- City of Copenhagen, Department of Public Health
- Center for Forebyggelse i Praksis
- the National Institute of Public Health
- the Danish Committee for Health Education
- the Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA)
- BørnUngeLiv
- University College Copenhagen.
MOVE FGU is funded by the Danish Heart Foundation.
Press
The Danish Crown Princess presented grants for research into cardiovascular disease – read the news item on the Danish Heart Foundation's website (in Danish).