Healthy Ireland and the National Physical Activity Plan

1. Healthy Ireland and the National
Physical Activity Plan
Dr. Fiona Mansergh
6th June 2018

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2 Rialtas na hÉireann | Government of Ireland
Healthy Ireland: Vision
“Where everyone can enjoy physical and mental health and
wellbeing to their full potential, where wellbeing is valued and
supported at every level of society and is everyone’s
responsibility”
Healthy Ireland: Goals
1. Increase the proportion of people who are healthy at all stages of life
2. Reduce health inequalities
3. Protect the public from threats to health and wellbeing
4. Create an environment where every individual and sector of society can play their part in achieving a Healthy Ireland
Healthy Ireland Framework : Themes for Action
1 - Governance and Policy 2 - Partnerships and Cross-Sectoral Working
3 - Empowering People and Communities 4 - Health and Health Reform
5 - Research and Evidence 6 - Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation

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Where are we now?
Policies and action plans with regard to physical activity, obesity, tobacco and alcohol use,
mental health, positive ageing, sexual health and children and young people have all been
published and are being implemented as components of the Healthy Ireland Framework
Cross-sectoral structures and relationships have been established; cross-Departmental
projects are underway. Work is underway across all Network themes
Embedding in HSE reform and Department of Health policy development has been achieved
The Healthy Ireland Survey has been running on an annual basis since 2015
The Healthy Ireland Fund has been established

4. 4 Rialtas na hÉireann | Government of Ireland
• New Communications and Engagement
Campaign launched by An Taoiseach
• 3 Themes: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity
& Mental Wellbeing; Eat Well, Be Well,
Think Well
gov.ie/healthyireland
@HealthyIreland
#HealthyIreland
Healthy Ireland 2018 Campaign

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New opportunity to:
Shape the national discourse on health and wellbeing
Re-focus efforts on prevention and ‘keeping people well’
Empower people to look after own health and make the ‘healthier
choice the easier choice’
Connect and mobilise existing and new initiatives and partnerships
around a shared agenda and aims
Address priority issues in a collaborative approach
Build a new culture and philosophy around health and wellbeing
An increased focus on prevention!
Healthy Ireland Implementation

6. 6 Rialtas na hÉireann | Government of Ireland
A joint project between the Departments of Health and Transport ,Tourism and
Sport , with representation from other Government Departments and Agencies, and
the research sector:
• Health Service Executive (HSE)
• Sport Ireland (SI)
• The Department of Education and Skills (DES)
• The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA)
• The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (DHPLG)
• The Local Government Management Association (LGMA)
• The research sector (University of Limerick, Waterford Institute of Technology)
Get Ireland Active!, the National Physical Activity Plan
for Ireland (NPAP).

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National Physical Activity Plan: Main Aims
The overarching target of the Plan is to increase the proportion of the
population across each life stage undertaking regular physical activity
by 1% per annum across the lifetime of Healthy Ireland (2013-2025):
• Increase by 1% per annum the proportion of children undertaking 60 minutes PA
per day
• Decrease by 0.5% per annum the proportion of children, adults and older people
who do not take any weekly PA
• Increase by 1% per annum the number of adults and older adults undertaking at
least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of intense PA.

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1: public awareness, education and communication.
Enable people to better understand the benefits of PA, and
how to become more active.
• Websites; www.getirelandactive.ie www.gov.ie
• Healthy Ireland 2018 campaign
• Social media
• Operation Transformation
• Men on the Move, Women on Wheels etc.
• Supporting European Week of Sport (including Great
Dublin Bike Ride, National Fitness Day, Age &
Opportunity, parkrun, SARI Soccerfest
National Physical Activity Plan: Action Areas

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For children and young people to learn the necessary skills for
confident engagement with PA and to have to opportunity to adopt
an active way of life
• Supporting positive change in schools; Junior Cycle Wellbeing
Curriculum, Leaving Certificate PE, Senior Cycle PE Framework,
Active Schools Flag, Phyz app
• Support from the Professional Development Service for Teachers
(PDST), and the HSE; Fundamental Movement Skills, Physical
Literacy, Junior Cycle for Teachers support service.
• Children’s and Young People’s Service Committees (CYPSCs);
joint funding for local initiatives from DCYA and the HIF
• Comhairle na nOg, Hub na nOg; participation by children and
young people in decision making
• Active Play Every Day, Smart Start.
• Development of Healthy Campus initiative
• Promotion of healthy lifestyles in schools and colleges.
Action Area 2: Children and Young People

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Action Area 3: Health
• Brief intervention model for behavioural change: Making Every Contact Count Framework launched in
May, 2017.
• MECC implemented in undergraduate curriculum for health disciplines; 7000 current front line staff to
complete training each year.
• Development of Behaviour Change Patient Management System in progress
• Developing guidelines, support materials and referral pathways to promote PA for organisations
providing mental health or disability services. CARA progressing PA services for PWD
• Integrating PA into long term care planning and practice;CarePALS, Cycling Without Age
The health service will promote greater awareness and understanding of the
health benefits of physical activity and will deliver programmes to encourage
increased participation.

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Action Area 4: Environment
Ireland’s natural and built environments; promoting increased levels of PA
• Healthy Cities and Counties
• National Planning Framework “Ireland 2040;Our Plan” launched in early 2018;
commits to integrating HI and the NPAP with planning policy and to prioritising
walking and cycling.
• City and County Development Plans; planning to promote increased levels of
walking and cycling
• Further development of local and regional parks and recreational spaces
• Design manual for Urban Roads and Streets, Town Toolkit (RIAI)
• Greenways; Mayo and Waterford in use, Clare and Limerick in development,
under consideration in a number of other counties

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Action Area 5: Workplaces
Making it easier for people to be more physically active as part of their everyday
working lives
• National Framework for Healthy Workplaces commenced, overseen by Departments of Health and Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
• Development of Framework across public & private sectors, supporting developmentof Health & Wellbeing programmes in all places of
employment.
• Objective: to supportemployers to develop individual, practical plans identifying how they will protect and promote the physical, mental and social
wellbeing of their employees, within the context of their own size, sector, location, number of employees, etc.
• Smarter Travel will be incorporated into the Healthy Workplace Framework to encourage the workforce to make the healthier travel choices to and
from work, such as cycling and walking.

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Action Area 6: Sport and Physical Activity in the
Community
Local stakeholders working together to promote active communities and
increased PA levels; focus on disadvantage, disability and older adults
• Community Sport and PA hubs in disadvantaged areas
• Local Sports Partnerships, Community coaching, Community Sports
Development Officers, Youth Leadership, Sports DisabilityTraining Framework
• Get Ireland Walking, Get Ireland Cycling, Get Ireland Swimming, Get Ireland
Running, Cycle Right
• National Sports Policy, to be published in Q2, 2017
• CARA; enhancing sport and physical activity opportunities for people with
disabilities.
• Special Olympics Young Athletes Programme
• Funding for the National Governing Bodies of Sport

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Community participation events
One millionth parkrun !
• parkrun is supported by the VHI, Healthy
Ireland, Athletics Ireland and Intersport
• parkrun provides events at 77 locations
nationwide, and is now operating junior
parkruns at 14 locations
• parkrun celebrated its millionth event last
month, in Brickfields, Drimnagh, Dublin.
• Just under 100,000 parkruns completed in
2018 by end March, up almost 3,000 from
same place last year (HSE PP, March)

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Action Area 7: Research, Monitoring and Evaluation
Increase the effectiveness of public measures by monitoring and
evaluation of participation, policies and programmes relating to PA
• Systematic national surveillance; activity levels monitored by Irish Sports Monitor, Healthy Ireland Survey, TILDA,Childrens’ Sport
Participation and Activity Survey, Irish Health Survey (EHIS), Health Behaviours in School Children (HBSC) and others
• NPAP Research Sub-Group established, representation from DH, DTTAS, SI, HSE and researchers.
• Baseline figures collated from before NPAP launch, newer versions of the studies underway or recently published
• Support for research grant applications; HRB Applied Partnership Award, Ireland’s Physical Activity Research Collaboration
awarded recently, work commencing Q3, 2018. Will examine successful interventions
• Healthy Ireland Demonstration Project, HaPAI Go for Life, EU applications.
• WHO Countryfile questionnaire, HEPA PAT

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Action Area 8: Implementation Through Partnership
Leadership, co-ordination and oversight will drive implementation of this
Plan and will include representation from key stakeholders
• Cross-sectoral Implementation Group with two subgroups (Research and
Children) leading implementation of the Plan.
• 1st Progress Report published in November, 2017; available at
www.healthyireland.ie
• Resources across all sectors that invest in PA catalogued (WHO Countryfile
questionnaire)
• Additional investment in PA sourced from the Healthy Ireland Fund (€ 5m in 2017
and again in 2018) and Dormant Accounts Fund.
• Stakeholder Forum planned
• Continued process of stakeholder engagement.

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Physical Activity Statistics, Ireland
• 32.6% of adults meeting PA guidelines (ISM, 2017)
• 34% approx. of adults aged 50+ (TILDA)
• 19% of primary and 12% of post-primary school
children meeting recommendations (CSPPA, 2010,
study being repeated currently)
• Boys more likely than girls to meet the
recommendations (GUI, HBSC, ISM), younger men
more likely to be active than younger women, but
reverses with age.
• 11% girls and 7% boys participate in vigorous
exercise less than once per week (HBSC 2014);
activity levels decline with age.
• Participation in recreational walking; 66.2% (up from
63.6% in 2015; ISM 2017)

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Active Schools Flag, 2018 and the NPAP
More schools, more active, more often!
• Department of Education and Skills initiative, supported by Healthy Ireland, started
2009
• Awarded to schools that strive to achieve a physically educated and physically active
school community.
• Application process: school self-evaluation of PE, Physical Activity and Partnerships,
must organise an Active School Week and commit to holding one annually.
• Initially targeted to primary schools; now expanding to secondary
• 816 schools currently hold a Flag, 127 scheduled for accreditation; over 1200 have
held a Flag since inception.
• NPAP target: 500 additional schools to have achieved the Flag by 2020; 403
additional schools awarded a Flag since the launch of the Plan in early 2016.
• Selected by JA CHRODIS Plus as an example of good practice. www.chrodis.eu

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• Healthy Ireland Framework, and the National Physical Activity Plan were developed via extensive consultation process
• Successful engagement, integration and partnership of a wide range of stakeholders is critical to implementation.
• New opportunities for private and other sectors to participate through mutually beneficial partnerships.
Partnership Key to Success
‘If everyone is responsible for health and wellbeing, then everyone needs to be involved’

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Thanks for listening
healthyireland@health.gov.ie
@HealthyIreland
www.healthyireland.ie
www.gov.ie