The CTS-1024 Group conducts a free pilot study of population-based research on the physical condition of the PAS/PDI and their families, culminating in direct transfer of the results to the users: "We rely on data so that the effort they make does not remain in the air".
UAL researcher Enrique García Artero expressed it clearly: "The philosophy behind 'UAL Healthy', as in any other field, is that having more information leads you to make better decisions; you have to take care of yourself, eat well, exercise, but to direct your efforts properly you need to know where you are, and that is exactly what this study facilitates". Director of the Research Group CTS-1024 Sport Research Group, which is the one that has been put to work, said "aims to monitor the state of fitness and health of the 'UAL workers', starting this year as a pilot with PAS and PDI". Any member of these groups can benefit from the initiative, with the only requirement of requesting a prior appointment at the following e-mail address cts1024@ual.esThe meeting is held in the Central Building, office 0.19, previous location of Internationalization and the Rector's Office.
"The main benefit", in the words of García Artero himself, "is to carry out a very thorough, exhaustive evaluation, carried out in just a few minutes, and a few days later they are given an individualized report in which they are told in a very graphic way and by colors how they are, their body mass index, blood pressure, physical condition, waist circumference... indicating with this color coding in which direction they are doing well and have to keep up, and in which direction they are doing badly, in yellow or red, and have to think about improving, which in short is the key". The main concern when implementing the project is none other than "promoting a healthy lifestyle throughout the university community". In this line, it has been extended to the environment of each user: "We want to give it the widest possible scope, because our goal is to take care of the health of workers, and they are very interested in the health of their loved ones, so any immediate family member has been invited to also take the study".
The support of the closest circle is key to achieving goals: "It has been demonstrated and it is known that in cases of childhood obesity, for example, the home environment, what you eat and whether you exercise, are fundamental, or when it comes to quitting smoking, which is easier if you have the support of your environment". Involving the people with whom you share your life will help you achieve your objectives: "Based on the information we provide, we can set guidelines so that the person can better orient their efforts in all senses, weight, fat, blood pressure... if you don't have clear indicators you don't know if you are working well or if your effort is just a waste of time, so we rely on data and evidence". It is, therefore, a mode of "direct and real research transfer, since the participants have their first effect on their life with the report, action-research".
This fulfills one of the maxims of the University of Almeria in a study that looks ahead: "Now it is transversal, in the sense that to make ourselves known we evaluate workers only once and guide their health, but the idea is, if we get funds, to make it longitudinal or follow-up, to evaluate them at least once a year, to go from a report on a single occasion to a progress report and show them graphically how all the data evolves". Moreover, it is an 'exportable' model: "Who knows if we can take it to the rest of the public workers, i.e. city councils, provincial councils... hopefully it will be well received". So far, so far in May, 90 UAL workers have already passed through the premises of a group that "has no other secret than the desire to investigate".
CTS-1024 started a couple of years ago with few senior researchers and thanks to the Degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences and the Master in Research it has been populated with "young people who like what the group does and stick to it for their final degree or master's thesis or for their doctoral thesis". Very active in the calls in which they participate, they also keep in mind that "the results cannot remain in the computers, but they have to have a real effect in the context in which they are obtained, in this case the UAL and looking for influence to promote healthy living in their environment". This is a step beyond the 'UAL Activa', born in the same research group with Antonio Casimiro as promoter and with the implementation of the Sports Service: "It was not by chance".
