Englisch

Deutscher Verband für Gesundheitssport und Sporttherapie e. V.
Vogelsanger Weg 48
50354 Hürth-Efferen

Phone: (0 22 33) 65017
Fax: (0 22 33) 6 45 61
dvgs@dvgs.de

Responsible for the content in accordance with §6 MDStV:
Angelika Baldus (Managing Director)
Address (see above)

Draft, realisation and technical contact partner, design:

baldus werbeagentur
Friedrich-Ebert-Ufer 44
51143 Köln

Tel.: 0 22 03 / 18 62-0
Fax: 0 22 03 / 18 62-29
baldus@baldus.de

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Promoting health and supporting health conscious modes of behaviour through healthy sport activities and sport therapeutic measures are the focus of the association’s work.

Healthy sport should guard against adverse health effects as a form of prevention. Sports and exercise therapy contributes to recovery following adverse physical and mental impairments as a form of rehabilitation. Through this, the quality of life can be improved especially for the chronically ill and handicapped.

Tasks and aims

• Development and constant adjustment of the sport and exercise related health support based on sports science as well as the establishment of sport and exercise therapy as a component of an efficient and affordable health system
• Quality assurance and optimisation in all areas of health sport and sport therapy
• Integration of sport and exercise therapy in ambulant out-patient, day-care and in-patient structures
• Establishment of sport/movement therapy as a remedy
• Optimisation of qualification structures in basic, advanced and further education for the further qualification of sports teachers/sports scientists for the fields of exercise based health support and sport therapy
• Professional lobby group

In the pursuit of these aims, the DVGS orients itself towards the self generated definitions:

Exercise therapy

Is medically indicated and prescribed exercise, planned and dosed by therapists, controlled together with the doctor and carried out with the patient either alone or in a group.

Sport and exercise therapy

Sport and exercise therapy is an exercise based therapeutic measure which compensates for destroyed physical, mental and social functions with suitable sports remedies, regenerates, guards against secondary damage and supports health oriented behaviour.
Sport therapy is based on biological principles; especially includes training science, medical, pedagogic-psychology as well as social therapeutic elements and attempts to create enduring health competence. Sport therapy can be seen as a remedy in this regard.

Health sport

Are all targeted sport-pedagogic measures that contribute towards controlling or compensating for the negative effects of our lifestyles, the workplace as well as leisure time behaviours.
Health sport integrates training science, medical as well as pedagogic-psychological approaches and strives for behavioural stabilisation or change with the aim of improving the quality of life.

What is sport and exercise therapy?

Definition

Sport and exercise therapy is medically indicated and prescribed exercise with behaviour oriented components, planned and dosed by therapists, controlled together with the doctor and carried out with the patient either alone or in a group. It aims to rehabilitate physical, mental and psycho-social impairments (affecting the daily life, leisure time and work) or guard against damage and risk factors with suitable activities from sport, exercise and behavioural orientation. Sport and exercise therapy is thereby based on medical, training and exercise science and especially pedagogic-psychological as well as socio-therapeutic elements.
In the execution of this, the training science aspects, especially the selection and dosing of the physical activities, contribute towards maintenance, facilitation and recovery. Sport and exercise therapy follows the ICF and is epidemiological and evidence based. Sport and exercise therapy aims towards the achievement of activity and social competencies of the people and strives towards behavioural stabilisation of behavioural change with the target of improving the quality of life and economising health care.

Mechanisms of action

The effects of the sport and exercise therapy are based on

• the structural and functional adjustment of the biological system through suitable activities. Sport and exercise therapy thereby follow etiologic and pathogenic knowledge as well as indication specific basic principles (orthopaedic, neurologic, internistic and psychiatric)
• the use of salutogenetic potentials, which develop against the background of these physiological effect mechanisms.

Sustainable multi-dimensional effects on psychological, cognitive and affective educational target levels arise from the conveyed knowledge and attitudes. In this, the following aspects are integrated among others:

• the acquisition and practice of suitable motor skills (sensomotoric educational target level) ACTION
• the training of motor skills like strength, endurance, flexibility (motoric educational target level) ACTION
• Conveyance of skills and knowledge as the basis for independent and sustainable health related action and social competence (cognitive educational target level) KNOWLEDGE
• Creation of sustainable motivation for the carrying out of own exercise programmes and for the attainment of a physically active lifestyle (affective and educative educational target levels) EMOTION

Biopsychosocial and salutogenetic approaches

With this, sport and exercise therapy follows the biopsychosocial approach of the WHO, which labels this as a model of the components of health and which includes the life background of the individuals as well as the environmental and the personal related factors (WHO 1980, 1993 and 2001) and which additionally includes the following dimensions:

• Physical damage (impairment)
• Individual/functional limitations/ skill impairments (activities)
• Social impairments (participation)

Sport and exercise therapy comes from interdisciplinary cooperation with existing medical and non-medical professional groups in so-called “therapeutic teams”. Within the framework of the care chain of the patients from acute hospitals, to rehabilitation following inpatient treatment to local out-patient care, sport and exercise therapy closes a currently existing care supply hole in the health care system:
The leading of the patients towards independent carrying out of the activities of daily life (ADL) in locally provided care. Against the salutogenetic background, within the personally experienced patient education the patient is conveyed:

• social support
• control experience<
• self-efficacy experience
• the confidence needed to participate in a healthy lifestyle

Sport and exercise therapy follows the aims: Help people to help themselves
Independence in the carryout of the ADLs
Rehabilitation before care
Rehabilitation before retirement

Sport and exercise therapeutic action happens on three levels: 1. Conception: as the planning phase of the therapeutic intervention
2. Realisation: as its implementation phase
3. Evaluation: as the evaluation phase of the therapeutic intervention