This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no602170. For further information, please comtact the project coordinator at Sally.Wyke@glasgow.ac.uk or visit us online at eurofitfp7.eu

Social innovation to improve physical activity and sedentary behaviour through elite European football clubs: European Fans in Training

EuroFIT’s overall aim is to build new social partnerships between football clubs, fans and researchers that harness the power of football to deliver an innovative public health programme. The innovation will address the problems of physical inactivity, sedentary behaviour and poor diet.

TASK COMPLETED KEY FINDINGS

EuroFIT trial across four countries (UK, Netherlands, Portugal and Norway)

• The trial gave us a lot of detailed data from over 1,100 men. We’ve now completed a rigorous analysis of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, and have submitted our first major paper.

• Analysis of the trial results continues with our process evaluation, where we are exploring in depth what worked (and what didn’t) for our difficult-to-reach audience.

• We’ve also explored how to make the EuroFIT programme work for women and other groups. Through our taster sessions, we learned that the walking programme was appealing and that the club-based learning about healthy eating was useful for women also.

SitFIT ‘Activator’ developed

• A new, low cost version of the SitFIT device, the SitFIT ‘Activator’, has been developed. It allows people to easily track their step count and see how much time they spend standing using their mobile phone. This can help people increase their physical activity and standing time.

• The ‘Activator’ is the recommended technology for future replications of the programme, opening up a new market for our commercial partner PAL Technologies. It’s also being used by researchers working with other target groups.

Preparation for replication beyond the project

• EuroFIT has now been delivered in 5 clubs as part of a replication study, without any funding from the project. The participants and clubs were delighted with the results. Based on the study, we’ve fine-tuned our implementation and replication strategy.

• The clubs in the study want to continue delivering the programme, and there is strong demand from other clubs as well.

• The programme has also been well-received by public health stakeholders - in Portugal, EuroFIT has been adopted as part of the national Programme for Physical Activity since April 2017.

• A license agreement is nearly in place for replication and roll-out of EuroFIT across Europe, including training, quality assurance and support for clubs.

• As football is central to the EuroFIT programme, we’re now working with UEFA to develop a strategy for Europe-wide replication.

RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no602170. For further information, please comtact the project coordinator at Sally.Wyke@glasgow.ac.uk or visit us online at eurofitfp7.eu.

• Data analysis: The massive amount of data generated by the EuroFIT trial is still keeping us busy - we’ve completed the main effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analyses but are digging deeper into the data and process evaluation results to better understand how to develop lifestyle interventions that work in the long-term and for hard-to-reach audiences.

• Final Delivery Model: We’re fine-tuning the programme materials based on what we learned during our replication study to maximise the success and quality of future deliveries of EuroFIT.

• Launching EuroFIT: We’re hard at work planning our Final Conference in Brussels! At the event (31 Oct 2018), we will launch the evidence-based, quality-assured EuroFIT programme for replication across European football clubs and beyond. The conference has the support of UEFA.

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Develop and test SitFIT device

Best practice to change sedentary behaviour

Develop and test MatchFIT app

Develop the EuroFIT programme w/ partners in clubs

Ethics

Deliver the EuroFIT programme in 15 clubs in Portugal, NL, Norway and UK

Short term follow up

Long term follow up

Sustainability, Growth, Replication

PROJECT TIMELINE

“I feel so much healthier, I have continued to lose weight but now I can put my shorts on for

the first time in a while. I have lost the equivalent to 16 bags of sugar so EuroFIT has certainly

worked for me! I saw the programme advertised on Twitter and it appealed to me straight away

as I have been a Blackburn Rovers supporter for 54 years.”

Mike Graham, EuroFIT Participant

As we approach the end of the project, we continue to share our results widely with our key audiences.

• We’ve published on using a self-monitoring device to help people move more and sit less (BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine) and on the intervention process in EuroFIT (Trials).

• The team has presented at conferences around the world, including a number of presentations at the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2018 meeting in Hong Kong and a keynote address about EuroFIT at the International Conference on Sports Medicine and Sports Science 2017.

• We’re putting EuroFIT on the radar of public health bodies and football associations. EuroFIT featured in the journal of the Portuguese Football Federation on the role football can play in health promotion and has been recognised as a key component of the Portuguese Programme for Physical Activity, coordinated by the national Directorate General of Health.

• The project has also received extensive media coverage, leveraging the wide appeal of football across Europe.

DISSEMINATION• EuroFIT ‘in the wild’: Early trial evidence

showed the programme worked, but would it work ‘in the wild’? While developing the final delivery model and licensing, we ran a replication study in five clubs, providing them with programme materials and training, but no funding. The study allowed us to fine-tune the programme and develop a ‘business case’ to promote future roll-out .

• Technology: Tracking standing time is key to EuroFIT, but commercially available activity trackers only measure physical activity. So, PAL Technologies developed the ‘Activator’, a new, low-cost version of their SitFIT device that can be used by clubs in the future.

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

CURRENT WORK

The materials presented and views expressed here are the responsibility of the author(s) only. The EU Commission takes no responsibility for any use made of the information set out.

Portuguese General Directorate of Health, Portuguese Football

Federation, and EuroFIT partner Faculty of

Human Kinetics agree to roll out EuroFIT