Active Future Programme – Week 7 -Dodgeball, Sexual Health & Step Plans

Posted December 5, 2016

It was the penultimate week here at the Active Future Programme and the Sports Science students delivered two excellent sessions as always. This week (5th December) I fly out Brazil to present at Seminario MOVE. I was invited to this conference to give an overview of the Active Future Programme and my experience on the Youth on the MOVE programme. I am excited and feel very privileged to have been invited to this event and I cannot wait to inform those in attendance on the great work done by my team and me on the Active Future Programme.

Physical Health Input

This week’s topic was sexual health, one which we felt was very important to cover with adolescents of this age (16-18). The students educated the participants on the signs and symptoms of the most common sexually transmitted infections, using contraception and where to get checked for STIs around the locality. Some STIs don’t even show any symptoms and can cause infertility. However, it is not all negative, as most STIs are treatable so it is important to go to an STI clinic and get checked regularly.

Physical Activity Input

This week we went for more a fun orientated focus and let our participants get some back on our leaders in a game of dodgeball! The rules are simple, if you get hit below the hip you are out, if you catch a ball your opponent is out and one member of your team can return. We really had a great time playing this game which was evident from the laughter and smiles throughout the game.

Mental Health Input

Last but not least, was Michael Byrne’s mental health input on creating step plans. This followed on from last week’s input on problem solving where the last step was to take action on your problem. Often problems or tasks seem impossible to manage or achieve, leading us to feel overwhelmed and stressed. However, Michael explained that the only way to overcome these issues is with one small step at time or as he put in ”the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time”. He introduced the step plan framework which outlined how to tackle such issues in a very pragmatic and useful way. Basically, you break this big problem it various small step, which get more challenging with each increment. This helps us to be confident enough to take on the next, slightly more difficult step.

Sadly, next week is the last week for the Active Future Programme so drop by to see how the graduation went.

Read Shane’s full post in here and follow the development of his Active Future Programme every Friday on the NowWeMOVE blog and YOTM website.