Scholars from the United States, Japan and Hong Kong join forces in the “Senior Sports For Health”event!
To jointly promote sports for seniors for the betterment of national health, the Health Promotion Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (HPA) and the Sports Administration of the Ministry of Health (SA) co-organized the 2019 “Senior Sports for Health” National Sports and Health Policy Seminar at the Howard Civil Service International House on September 4th. Representatives from the industry, government, academics, media, and the public are invited to participate in cooperation to promote the sports for seniors and cultivate a healthy aging and happy future for the public.
Policy Implementation Enhanced Through Intra-Governmental, Cross-Border and Cross-Domain Exchanges
In alignment with the lifestyle of the elders, this seminar takes creating active lives, active homes and active environments as the sub-themes. Professors from Japan, Hong Kong, and the United States are invited to share their experience in promoting seniors walking events, lifestyle sports and the creation of a senior-friendly environment. As the finale of the forum, a roundtable session of the central government agencies (HPA and SA), local government agencies (Department of Health of New Taipei City Government), sports and physical therapy scholars / practitioners engaged in exchanges and experience sharing on cross-departmental and cross-field cooperation promotional experiences that jointly provided momentum to the forthcoming policy implementations. (https://tinyurl.com/y5pwhcyt).
Over 60% Senior Citizens Now Regularly Exercise, A Joint Effort by Two Ministries to Send Sports Professional to Community Stations
According to the survey on the current situation of sports in 2018, the proportion of the population participating in sports in Taiwan is 83.1%, and the proportion of the population who do sports regularly is 33.5%. Among them, the ratio of people over the age of 60 who participated in sports is 86.1%, and the ratio of people who exercise regularly is as high as 59.4%. It shows that the population participating in sports and the population of doing sports regularly are higher than the overall average. Indicative of the fact that they pay more attention to sports and health than other age groups. Although nearly 60% of the elderly have regular exercising habits, but as Taiwan has entered into an “aged society”, it has become increasingly important to also promote the health of senior citizens.
Health Promotion Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (HPA) and Sports Administration of the Ministry of Health (SA) agreed to jointly promote the “Seniors Sports for Health” program for increasing physical activity of the elderly this year (2019). Through the implementation of “localized stations and professional human resources”, professional guidance instructors for sports or physical activities are sent to the local community to help seniors enjoy the effect of health from sports and exercise. You can also visit the iSports Information Platform website of the SA to learn about the activities of each county and city, and then choose the sports courses (activities) that suit you （https://isports.sa.gov.tw/Index.aspx）.
Integration and Connection of Cross-Ministerial Resources for a Healthy Life
The World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that insufficient physical activity is the top ten risk factor for death in the world. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has also strongly advocated the concept of “Exercise is Medicine”. SA and HPA have continued to combine cross-ministerial forces to promote regular exercise and physical activity for the public jointly. For the past 4 years, they have cooperated in organizing seminars annually and developed the cooperation blueprints between the administrations in alignment with the World Health Organization’s “Global Action Plan on Physical Activity and Health 2018-2030”, to combine public health and sports for the betterment of our national health and happiness.
Healthy citizens are a country’s greatest asset. Physical activity and exercise are very important to promote the health of people of all ages. This seminar is organized by the two administrations through cross-departmental resource linkage and cooperation to promote national health and an environment that lead active lifestyles and enjoy sports. To further extend the fruits from the successful seminar, we welcome all partners to visit the Physical Activity Resources Center for Taiwan webpage (https://sites.google.com/view/parct2017) of the SA to download the presentation or the manual of this conference. The resources can also be used to promote physical activities in communities, workplaces, hospitals, and schools. Together, we can create a sports-friendly promoting environment.