The value of embracing a physically active lifestyle has been well documented in recent times. However, despite this knowledge, physical activity levels in many western societies remain worryingly low in both adult and youth populations. Habit formation in youth is a key indicator of engagement in physical activity as an adult; therefore,…

The National Health Service (NHS) celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2023. Its founding principles of care for all, free at point of need, funded from general taxation, a source of British pride. However the public has growing concerns about the standard of care and is pessimistic about the future. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP),…

Over the past 25 years Forest School in the UK has been growing in popularity as part of a wider resurgence of interest in outdoor learning. A key driver behind this recurrence of interest has been a growing concern over the lack of child exposure to outdoor experiences and with the natural world and their ensuing nature-deficit disorder. This…

Each year, the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy Special Interest Group organises an Invisible College which precedes the annual BERA conference. The day opens with a Scholar Lecture which is delivered by an academic who has made a significant contribution to the field. This paper represents the…

As children with autism spectrum disorder become adults, social participation continues to be an area of need. Within creative arts, there is a growing body of literature about the use of theatre arts, improvisational theatre, and improvisational techniques as a way to address social participation for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The…

Guidance for schools regarding the promotion and enhancement of psychological wellbeing represents an invitation to intervene to promote effective, evidence-informed, whole-school approaches for school staff, students and parents. With its transdiagnostic approach and evidence from empirical literature, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is…

Clinical sexual health consultations with young women often focus on avoiding "risks;" namely pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection transmission. They also typically fail to explore how contraception use can impact on the capacity to enjoy sexual relationships. In contrast, this paper argues that sexual pleasure should be a…

In recent years, many schools have taken up food gardening. This is a welcome trend, but it has had to be conducted as an extracurricular activity, often with the help of, or run by, parents and grandparents. Growing vegetables and fruit, if it is to be done well, is a complex activity. The potential good outcomes for health, learning, and…

This specially themed ""Getting of Wisdom," Learning in Later Life" Edition of the "Australian Journal of Adult Learning" ("AJAL") is not so much concerned with the issue of ageing itself, but more about quality of life regardless of age. It is about taking, but also giving back as best as possible at any…

Popular myth has it that visiting a farm can be dangerous, but there are only a few occasions when children have become ill during a school visit to a farm. Simple, sensible precautions, including wearing appropriate clothing, such as trousers and wellington boots (if wet) or sensible shoes, and careful hand-washing, are all that is required. The…

In efforts to respond to key government public health initiatives for settings-based health promotion, the "Workplace Health Champion" role has emerged as a method of promoting health within the UK healthcare setting. Health promotion techniques used by these individuals are based on psychological theories that are known to motivate…

Healthcare for men and women with learning disabilities (known internationally as intellectual disabilities) has risen up the political agenda in the United Kingdom, propelled by a report from the charity Mencap. This report has resulted in renewed efforts, set out in "Valuing People Now", to ensure that people with learning disabilities…

Recent work in human geography has begun to explore the fluidity of bodily boundaries and to foreground the connectedness of bodies to other bodies/objects/places. Across multiple subdisciplinary areas, including health, children's and feminist geographies, geographers have begun to challenge the notion of a singular, bounded body by highlighting…

The health and wellbeing agenda is gaining momentum. Most recently, a major review of the curriculum for England's primary schools suggested that "wellbeing, happiness and healthy living" could be one of six broad areas of learning to replace individual subjects. Health literacy is one component of the health and wellbeing agenda and…

As cities across the country and globe continue to generate new solutions to a wide variety of vexing problems, sharing information about what works and what doesn't has become more important than ever. Yet, outside of a few prominent policies, the vast majority of successful municipal experiments never reach a national audience or, for that…