Evaluation of Physical Activity

Assessing physical activity is of paramount importance to investigate physical activity related health risks and to evaluate interventions for disease prevention and health promotion in the general population and specific age- and target groups. Moreover, with proper feedback, it can be a useful tool to improve physical activity and movement in individuals and groups. Examples of questions involving evaluation of physical activity are: Was I active enough today to keep my good health? Does the prescribed intervention improve physical activity during daily life? Is the workload too high or monotone to keep specific working populations, patients and athletes in good health?

The course provides knowledge about how assessment of physical activity can be used in disease prevention, health promotion, (re)habilitation and sports. The course provides skills on data collection, signal analysis and interpretation of results of physical activity in daily life.

Knowledge

The candidate

• has advanced knowledge about different methods for evaluating physical activity
• has advanced knowledge about how evaluation of physical activity can be used in disease prevention, health promotion and performance enhancement in daily life activities
• has advanced knowledge about how evaluation of physical activity can be used to facilitate behavioral change in individuals and groups

Skills

The candidate

• can describe and discuss different methods for physical activity assessment used in mobile health solutions
• can interpret and report different outcomes of physical activity assessment
• can apply different methods in physical activity assessment for early diagnosis, risk assessment, and evaluation of interventions

General competence

The candidate

• can present a project plan and project results in oral and written form
• can reflect on ethical issues related to the use of activity data according to EU's general data protection regulation

The course includes practical exercises in the use of questionnaires, sensor systems, smartphone applications, and activity recognition methods.