The initiative’s main objective is to transform sports environments into places for the promotion of mental and physical health focused on the family.
Photo: New York City Department of Health/Courtesy
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At the end of May, a pilot project of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) known as Sport for Family Health, a community-level health initiative that aims to transform sports environments into places for the promotion of mental and physical health centered on the family.
The project, which is one of the DOHMH Office of Health Equity and Skills Development’s Queens Neighborhood Health programs, seeks to decrease the conditions that drive premature mortality among youth and their families in New York City, primarily in neighborhoods with large numbers of minority and immigrant residents.
So far, about 436 children ages 7 to 17 in low-income neighborhoods in Queens County (Jamaica, Far Rockaways, and Corona) participate in sports activities such as soccer, roller skating, and basketball.
While children participate in these sports activities, their parents can sign up workshops and physical activities that include yoga, Zumba, blood pressure control, learning to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), prevention of COVID-19 and mental health.
By participating in these projects, youth and their families can increase physical activity, develop and improve life skills, and increase social cohesion and feelings of belonging at the community level.
“The Sport for Family Health Program creates spaces for family members that help them improve their physical and mental health. When children play together, they develop important skills such as empathy, teamwork, strategy development, and above all, it helps them create stronger communities,” said Dr. Marta Hernández, director of Queens Neighborhood Health, Office of Equity in DOHMH Health and Skills Development.
Dr. Hernández highlighted the importance of children and their parents being able to interact in person with other members of the community after having experienced the mental health consequences left by the isolation created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latter is very important because Corona was the epicenter of COVID-19 cases in New York City at the beginning of the pandemic and many of these families lost a friend or family member. Many are of Hispanic origin.
“The program is also an opportunity for the children and the family in general to get out of confinement, develop a sense of community belonging and re-socialize,” said Hernández.
During one of the events of this program, last Monday, May 23, at the Louis Armstrong Rehabilitation Center, on Northen Blvd, Corona, 30 children had the opportunity to participate in soccer practices and another 30 learned basketball techniques. While the children had fun with the balls, their parents received a free training from DOHMH personnel on how to measure their blood pressure and the ways they can avoid suffering from hypertension through a balanced diet, low sodium intake and the practice of physical activities.
The participants in the event, both adults and children, most of them of Latin origin, were surprised with the visit of the Health Commissioner of the City of New York, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, who in addition to speaking with parents in Spanish, joined the little ones to play a little soccer.
“Your participation in this program is very important for the community and for the health of the community, especially after COVID-19. Thank you very much for your participation and for bringing your children to start their lives in good health,” Dr. Vasan told the Hispanic mothers during his visit.
DOHMH has also partnered with two community organizations in the Jamaica, Queens neighborhood to offer sports clinics to area youth that include basketball and soccer. The clinics are being held at a local park called the Roy Wilkins Recreation Center from Sunday, June 19 through Thursday, June 30.
Other similar events will take place in other Queens neighborhoods and although registration is now closed, the DOHMH announced that the program will be expanded next year.
SOURCE: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
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