Bring movement into your day

A toolkit to get moving

The movement guidelines 2017, drawn up by the Health Council of the Netherlands, indicate how much you should exercise for a healthy life. Research conducted by the Health Council of the Netherlands shows that more than half of the Dutch population exercise less than the guidelines recommend, which can lead to all sorts of health problems.

Kenniscentrum Sport en Bewegen (Knowledge Center for Sport & Physical Activity) was commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to make people more aware of the exercise guidelines, but above all, to help people exercise. Together with Kenniscentrum Sport en Bewegen and the Publab, Panton developed a core message and various expressions, including the movement toolkit and several animations to get more Dutch people to exercise.

Core message

Together with Kenniscentrum Sport en Bewegen and behavioural scientists from the Publab of Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, we searched for the core message that conveys the exercise guideline in an action-oriented way to three target groups: children, adults and the elderly. In several co-creation sessions, experts from both theory and practice worked on the core message and an effective communication strategy.

It soon became clear in the sessions that communicating the guidelines as a ‘compulsory norm’ was not going to encourage the target group to move more. It was therefore decided to communicate the benefits that can be gained from exercising. In addition, participants of the sessions wanted to give examples of simple ways to bring more movement into your day.

Based on the insights gathered during the sessions, various concepts were created. For each concept visuals were created to appeal to the different target groups. These visuals were used in feedback sessions with focus groups.

This resulted in the core message:  ‘Bring movement into your day, easier than you might expect’.

Tools for moving

To spread the core message, Kenniscentrum Sport en Bewegen, in collaboration with Panton, develops practical tools to encourage more people to exercise. These tools support (healthcare) professionals as well as individuals. One of the first expressions of this is the movement toolkit:

The movement toolkit

The Movement Toolkit is a toolkit that helps (healthcare) professionals, together with their clients, to see where opportunities for exercise lie. With the toolkit you list what you already do, what you like and what suits your daily activities. Then you create a plan to start moving more. You can also find tips to motivate yourself in difficult moments. The Movement Toolkit also helps you to evaluate your results. Finally, the Movement Toolkit contains information for those who are looking for more in-depth information about the exercise guidelines. We are also developing this toolkit with the target group(s) and experts. Currently the first version is being tested in the field. Pharos is involved in looking at the readability and comprehensibility of the toolkit for people with limited health skills.

Animations

Panton also developed an animation for Kenniscentrum Sport en Bewegen to spread the core message and exercise guidelines. In addition, an animation was made to communicate the purpose and use of the Movement Toolkit.

Do you want to work together on a healthy society?
Get in touch with Joris Swaak