Benefits For Children and Families
Regular physical activity can reduce depression and anxiety, and increase social integration, self-esteem, overall health, and quality of life. Social participation is important for children to learn and practice self-control, communication skills, and positive social interaction.
Physical activity is beneficial for all children but has particular benefits for children with Neurodevelopmental and/or Intellectual Disabilities (NDID), such as improved motor skills, and cognitive and social development.
Significant impacts for families include improved mental health, social support, and resilience. At the community level, collaborative engagement in the project may contribute to cultural wellness, community strength, and resilience.
KidsAction Coaching enhances the participation and inclusion of children with NDIDs in community-based physical activity programs and maximizes the positive effects of these programs by improving their delivery based on evidence.
As a result, we anticipate longer-term benefits that may include improvements in quality of life and functioning for children with NDID and their families. KidsAction enhances benefits of the already existing physical activity programs but also brings benefits of its own: a reduction in anxiety and depression, an increase in social integration, self-esteem, social participation with peers, and increased communication skills, positive social interactions among other benefits.
Benefits For Coaches and Organizations
Benefits for coaches and organizations who adopt the KidsAction approach include access to the best evidence on physical activity program delivery, direct updates on the findings of our KidsAction research, and the flexibility to shape the delivery of KidsAction for their own coaches, families, children, and physical activity programs.
Our training courses build community capacity to spread KidsAction Coaching throughout a program’s community. Connection with a broader network of coaches offers peer social support and a place to share challenges and successes. As a result, urban, rural, and remote communities can access the knowledge and experience of other KidsAction Coaching leaders to assist them in their ongoing use of the KidsAction approach.
Programs using KidsAction Coaching can also benefit from sharing with one another their learning about the process of implementing and delivering the KidsAction approach in various settings.
