We recently saw the close of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and if you managed to watch any of it, we hope you were left feeling inspired to get a bit more active.
One particular sport that can offer significant benefits to health and wellbeing is swimming and aquatic activity. When thinking about this in relation to our local communities, we know that nursing staff can make a real difference by referring and signposting to services, supporting people to live longer and healthier lives.
Active Cumbria recently shared a short film, launched by Swim England, which encourages more nursing staff and other healthcare professionals to ask, suggest, and equip individuals to experience the benefits of being active in water.
The latest film has been developed in response to research commissioned by Swim England in 2020, which identified nurses as a key professional group in influencing behaviour change at an individual patient level.
Nurse Practitioner and Physical Activity Clinical Champion Michelle Turner is featured in the video, sharing her experiences as a nurse in how talking to patients about swimming has led to significant improvements in their health.
Michelle says: “As nurses we have the power and influence to help our patients think about becoming active through swimming.
“By us mentioning first to the patient about that and talking about the benefits of swimming we are able to find out where there is a service that can help that person get back in the water.”
The film series aims to maximise the number of conversations around swimming, encouraging nursing staff and patients to take advantage of a commitment from hundreds of public swimming pools across the country.
They have pledged to provide greater access to opportunities to engage in health promoting activities in the water, promoting both physical and mental health.
This commitment is growing through Swim England’s Water Wellbeing programme, which supports pool owners and operators to become more accessible, inclusive and welcoming to people who may have long term health conditions or impairments and face a greater number of barriers to being active.
We were also pleased to hear the news that Birtley Swimming Centre will be reopening after a fundraising bid hit its target of £20,000. Gateshead Leisure Centre also reopened earlier this summer, after months of closure.
Discover more on Swim England’s website here…
