POST COVID SWIM
ABOUT PROJECT
According to the World Health Organization, COVID-recovered individuals suffer from various problems (breathing, neurological, physical and psychological dysfunctions), preventing them to partly or fully return in the work process, affecting their exclusion and increasing the health expenditure. Nevertheless, in Europe there is no systematic treatment of COVID-recovered people when they finish with medical treatment. The project PostCovSwim addresses this gap by presenting swimming and movement in the water as a physical activity, which improves the quality of life of COVID-recovered individuals. Thanks to the water characteristics, the COVID-recovered people will be able to take part in the program.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
The main project objective is to draw up a training program, based on the recent world-known developments in the field of health and sport sciences, to be used in a local environment. An innovative design of the program in the appropriately warm water will directly address the current problems connected with COVID-19. By drawing-up their own training programs, the representatives of the target groups (swimming teachers and coaches, swimming professionals and kinesiologists) will be able to reach a higher participation of the final users, faster inclusion in the society, and, at the same time, they will have an important mission in direction of the psychical and mental condition of the society.
SKRIPTA
What is this script about and who is it for?
The main objective of the project is to establish a training programme that will offer quality and systematic treatment to the target groups and consequently to the end-users, ensuring a healthy and safe return to everyday life for people treated for COVID-19. The programme will be based on a theoretical and practical design and will be supported by a number of intellectual findings in the light of expert and scientific content and digital questionnaires.
- COVID-19 will always be with us and its consequences are serious for some people.
- A similar approach for all people with various lung diseases (cancer, COPD, etc.), which are becoming more common due to various environmental factors.
Dissemination of the Project
Assessing Dietary Intake Status and Body Composition Changes in Post-COVID-19 Patients Undergoing a Swimming Program
PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE POSTCOVID SWIM PROJECT
Sixty-four participants (41 females, 23 males) from all countries participated in the initial assessments before the exercise/swimming programme begun. Apart from questionnaires, physical fitness testing was included and consisted of: aerobic capacity tests (6 minute walk and 2 minutes stepping), flexibility (sit-and-reach test), handgrip strength, strength and endurance of lower limbs (30-second chair squats), abdominal strength (sit-ups) and swimming distances of 50 and 100 metres.
FUNCTIONAL FITNESS AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PEOPLE WITH COVID-19
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL FITNESS AND THE SEVERITY OF COVID-19 SYMPTOMS
Pulmonary Function Parameters in Relation to Specific and Generic Aerobic Muscle Capacities in Recreational and Disabled Post-Covid-19 Swimmers
Quality of Life and Fatigue in Post-Covid-19 Adults with Disabilities Included in The Swimming Practice
METHODS: This research included 9 participants who were part of the EU project Post-COV Swim, all of whom had mental and physical disabilities who were actively participating in swimming practice. This study included sociodemographic factors (age, gender, COVID-19 status), as well as anthropometric indices (body mass, body height), multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI), and quality of life questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L).
RESULTS: The participants reported a favourable quality of life (scores up to 1.89 out of maximal and worst result of 5 in all subscales) and low fatigue levels (scores up to 10.33 out of maximal 20 in all subscales). Interestingly, there were no significant differences observed in the quality of life and fatigue score between participants who had COVID-19 infection and those who had not.
OUR PARTNERS
Altogether, three organizations take part in the project. The main partner is the Slovenian Swimming Association, whose mission is to offer professional development of the swimming coaches and professionals. The second project partner is the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education from Serbia with a wide range of competences in the field of researchscientific projects. The third project partner is Natator Swimming Club from Croatia, expert in the swimming programs development on the basis of Halliwick method with rich organizational and dissemination experience.
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