The Autonomous Plan of Physical Exercise Prescription of Cantabria, drafted by UNEATLANTICO in collaboration with the Cantabrian Health Service and the General Directorate of Sport, has reached its last phase of implementation.
This last step is the activation of the Active Physical Exercise Units (Unidades Activas de Ejercicio Físico, UAEFs), which is being made possible thanks to the award of the service to the company SEDENA (company awarded the project), which has been implemented in the municipalities of Santander, Camargo, Miengo, Noja, Santoña, Torrelavega, and Suances, and its development is subsidized by Next Generation European Funds through the General Directorate of Sport.
This project will be developed over three months as a pilot test in the seven municipalities mentioned above. In each of them, each sports physical educator is working in coordination with the physicians of the health centers that refer the patients to them to make a correct initial assessment and prescribe the dose and frequency of physical exercise appropriate to the characteristics of each person. For the time being, the pilot project has included some population groups on which the intervention is being focused, such as overweight, obesity, hypertension, and the elderly, among others.
It should be noted that six of the seven physical sports educators hired for this purpose, and coordinated by Eduardo Zunzunegui, head of the company awarded the contract, are graduates of the degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences (CAFYD) of UNEATLANTICO, who with their participation show the professional and personal quality that characterizes them.
Finally, those responsible for drafting the plan and starting this project a year and a half ago, doctors Carlos Lago and Susana Pulgar, expressed their satisfaction that this milestone has finally reached the first seven municipalities in Cantabria and hope that it can be given continuity and breadth in the near future to the rest of the municipalities of this autonomous community. In the meantime, both are in close contact with the project coordinator and the sports physical educators to support them in the development of the assessments and individualized prescription of physical exercise.