One-quarter of youth concerned
Young Quebecers with disabilities are less likely than their classmates to fully develop their potential and become independent. Initiatives designed to promote the adoption of a healthy lifestyle and a healthy nutrition fail to reach them, because of the lack of extracurricular activities adapted to their needs. What is more, opportunities to participate in organized physical activities are rare for them, especially outside main urban centers.
A proactive intervention
Program managers tour across different regions of Québec. They meet with stakeholders, teachers, and anyone interested in the accessibility of sports activities for youth with functional limitations.
Find out when the Choose to Win team is coming to your area!
Working with the community
Défi sportif AlterGo works in collaboration with academics and actors of the field to develop its expertise. In 2013, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) published a study for the Choose to Win program entitled Étude des facteurs facilitant l’adoption de saines habitudes de vie et la pratique d’activités physiques et sportives par les jeunes ayant une limitation fonctionnelle.
The study reviews a body of literature on the situation of youth with functional limitations in relation to a healthy lifestyle. A field study then confirms the issues highlighted in the literature and outlines potential solutions.
In light of the findings of this study, Choose to Win adopted an intervention plan that targets three groups:
- Youth with functional limitations;
- Experts: specialized teachers, trainers, health professionals, professors, researchers and other specialists;
- Major stakeholders: they are the key players of a healthy lifestyle, they work every day with the youth, develop activities and programs but lack the experience and expertise to adapt their interventions to youth with disabilities.
Such an approach allows for tackling the different obstacles that prevent young Quebecers with functional limitations to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
For more information on the Choose to Win program, please contact:
Elsa Lavigne
Director, Universal accessibility in recreation
elsa@altergo.ca
514-933-2739, ext. 247
