Move your CORE

Design and web-based implementation of a group training to promote physical activity considering psychological barriers within the project “Move your CORE!”

The aim of this work was a design, implementation and evaluation of a training to promote physical activity for students to reduce the perception of stress during studies.

The design of the training was based on the Motivations-Volitions-Model of Fuchs (2005). It was divided into four modules. Because of the Corona pandemic the group training was offered as a webinar. In total five female participants (19-27 years) joined the training. To evaluate the satisfaction and acceptance of the training the evaluation questionnaire of Sosnowsky-Waschek (2019) was used. Physical activity as well as perceived barriers were tested with the questionnaire Fragebogen zur Erfassung des Gesundheitsverhaltens (FEG) of Dlugosch and Krieger (1995).

The main result was a statistic significant reduced perception of outer barriers after finishing the training. The descriptive evaluation showed a high satisfaction and acceptance of the webinar. The small number of participants and the missing control group were discussed critically. Also, opportunities and limitations of webbased psychological group trainings were explained.

Physical and sporting activity among students of the SRH University Heidelberg: Results of a qualitative study within the project "Move your CORE!“!

The goal of this bachelor's thesis was to investigate the question of the experienced psychological and external barriers and obstacles in the implementation of sporting activity in the everyday life of students. Among other things, the sports facilities on the campus were evaluated. Using semi-structured interviews, N = 15 persons (n=11 female and n=4 male, age range 19 - 26 years) were interviewed. The evaluation was based on a qualitative content analysis.

The central finding was that students have to overcome various psychological, social, organizational and physical barriers when initiating their sports activities, which is why physical activity is often insufficient.

In conclusion, the author discusses various recommendations for action to improve the sports facilities on the Heidelberg campus. These include, for example, measures to promote group formation at faculty level or support measures for the formation of training stands.

Psychological barriers of behavioral change to increase physical activity among students - a quantitative cross-sectional study

The health of a person can be influenced by a variety of factors. Physical activity is one of the basic pillars for promoting and maintaining health. In the present work, the influence of the predictors self-efficacy, self-observation, social support and chronic stress, which are considered as psychological barriers, on the practice of physical activity is examined.

For this purpose, three research questions were formulated and answered with the help of an online survey (quantitative cross-sectional design) of N=213 students of the SRH University Heidelberg. It was confirmed that the facets of physical activity were more pronounced before the start of studies than after admission. The postulated correlations between the predictors and the frequency of physical activity, however, did not prove to be statistically significant.

In conclusion, a small positive effect on the probability of students successfully engaging in moderate physical activity in everyday life was found for the social support construct and a small negative effect for the chronic stress construct. For the implementation of the findings in university setting, this means that interventions to promote social support and to reduce chronic stress conditions can promote effective physical activity promotion at the SRH University Heidelberg.

Students' wishes on how the university can support them to become more physically active

The aim of the study was to find out what the students of the SRH University Heidelberg think about, how the university can support them to increase their physical activity.

To obtain this information, a focus group and five individual interviews were conducted. The focus group took place with three students from different study programmes. Due to the Corona pandemic, no other focus group could be present. Therefore, online interviews with students from different faculties were conducted. The evaluation was carried out by means of a qualitative content analysis.

Regarding the organization of the study programme, students find it desirable that there are fixed time slots for sporting activities, during which no other appointments of the university should take place. For example, you could schedule fixed times and courses in the morning, after lunch or in the evening.

The students would consider it useful if the courses were organized by the students themselves and carried out in the faculties. Nevertheless, the courses are to be offered across faculties to get to know students from other faculties. The content would be taster offers on different sports, exercise, or relaxation techniques so that the students get to know a variety of activities.

As changes to the campus, for example, the creation of a running track around the campus was suggested, so that running events could be more easily formed. A second idea was to create a free-access outdoor sports field with various offers, such as a Calisthenics Park on campus.