On Monday, 24.06.2019, a press conference took place in Kiel in the district of Suchsdorf in the Anlaufstelle Nachbarschaft “anna” regarding an early summary of the participants of the WIPP project. Senior citizens of the course programs “Form Your Life” and “Train Your Form” came together in a relaxed and open round of coffee, cake and other small snacks. Among the german project partners were Kerstin Berszuck from AOK NordWest, Prof. Manfred Wegner and Daniel Pantleon from the Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel and Prof. Petra Hampel, Carina Wilkens and Sarina-Cathleen Marwedel from the Europa-Universität Flensburg. Fynn Okrent represented the Landessportverband Schleswig-Holstein (LSV). Also present were the course instructors and the Kieler Nachrichten. There was a lively and dynamic exchange.
The course program “Train Your Form” focuses on the fun of movement. In the movement group, certain recurring exercises accompany the entire course. Depending on the level of performance and the individual “load level”, the training is performed twice a week for 12 weeks with a training instructor trained by the LSV. In complementary units, personal goals are determined and the first steps to a more active everyday life are tested. In the second program “Form Your Life“, the participants try out their possibilities and formulate goals for a more active everyday life. This includes walks as well as the use of existing offers in the district. In addition, the participants will receive a home-based exercise program adapted to their needs.
Petra Hampel (Professor of Health Psychology and -education at the Europa-Universität Flensburg) found the introductory words, a loving and careful moderation as well as appropriate final words of the press conference. In a first round, all introduced themselves and described the things that were important to them. The participants told in an honest and open-minded way about already made experiences and about actions and emotions created during the WIPP project. So it became clear where there are still challenges to tackle in general and especially in the WIPP project and what already works very well and effectively. About the created actions, the previous participants reported on a regular joint breakfast round, at the end of the course. The participants found a lot of positive and grateful words for their instructors Tanja Maury-Butenschön (Diakonie Altholstein) and Eldrid Wollenhaupt.
Mrs. Maury-Butenschön leads the “Form Your Life” course and said enthusiastically, “The WIPP training is a great way to bring people together in the neighborhood. All participating senior citizens not only showed positive results in improving their physical well-being, but also enjoyed the community atmosphere of the courses. In many cases the participation in the district increased considerably beyond the training “.
In order for other citizens to be able to use the offers after the end of the WIPP project from 2020, important requirements have already been created, according to Mrs. Berszuck (AOK NordWest): “The exercise program was adapted in collaboration with LSV in such a way that sports club coaches with a B-license can offer. The target is to recognize the courses in order to allow support for the statutory health insurance. In the future, the participants could then get the costs paid back. ”
The newspaper article of Kieler Nachrichten can be found and read under the following link: