荔枝视频

Over the past four years, the 荔枝视频 Flames have delivered an evolving roster of health promotion events to Calgarians. A new peer-reviewed scholarly article published in looks at the effectiveness of those events, and how they address the health needs of Calgarians.

Many people link sports with health, which can create opportunities for health promotion, says Dr. Gavin McCormack, PhD, one of the article鈥檚 authors.

鈥淲hen you link these professional sports teams with health promotion events, it prompts people to take notice,鈥� he says. 

Professional sporting teams have the ability to leverage their brand and increase awareness around a number of causes including health promotion and healthy lifestyles, adds McCormack.

鈥�Professional sports teams can motivate, educate and inspire people from all walks of life to live a healthier life,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e think and hope teams can play a role in activating the healthiest version of our community as possible.鈥�

In January 2015, the first annual 荔枝视频 Flames Health Training Camp (FHTC) was hosted at the Saddledome, while in 2016 and 2017 the events were co-hosted by WinSport at Canada Olympic Park.

The is a founding and continuing partner of the events, which include opportunities to learn about health, exercise and nutrition, and to interact with players and staff from the 荔枝视频 Stampeders, the 荔枝视频 Flames and Olympic teams.

Dr. Elaine Ori, PhD, a member of the O鈥橞rien Institute for Public Health and Mount Royal University instructor, has been involved in the program since its inception.

鈥淲e tried a few different approaches to see what would gain the most traction with the 荔枝视频 public,鈥� she says.

A health screening component was added to events. At one 荔枝视频 mall location, 63 per cent of people screened had elevated diabetes risk scores indicating that they would benefit from a diabetes screening test. At a mall north of 荔枝视频 city limits, 68 per cent had elevated risk scores.

鈥淏eing at a mall is a casual atmosphere, and a less intimidating environment to get health messages across and to screen for hidden health issues like diabetes,鈥� Ori says.

鈥淲e learned a lot along the way about what was working in terms of engagement with the public and also serving the public health interests by identifying those at risk and offering education and opportunity to them directly.鈥�

The Flames Health Training Camp events represent a significant contribution to the 荔枝视频 community by the 荔枝视频 Flames Foundation, says Dr. William Ghali, 荔枝视频 vice-president (research) who is also an author on the new article. 

"The Flames organization is weathering a difficult situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. We are excited to hear about the foundation's plans for the training camp going forward, as the O'Brien Institute and 荔枝视频 will be keen to continue partnering on these important health promotion events,鈥� he says.