Description: Physical activity wearables are the most accurate way to track changes in physical activity, sedentary time, sleep, and moderate to vigorous intensity activity. Wearables are also a fun tool for athletes that encourages physical activity monitoring and goal setting. Providing athletes with a wearable device can allow for on-going data monitoring before, during, and after fitness programming.
Target audience: Athletes and Unified partners
Length: On-going data capture
Measures:
- Physical activity (i.e., moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity, light physical activity, types of activities, total daily steps)
- Physical activity during practice and fitness programming
- Sedentary time (i.e., time spent not moving during waking hours)
- Sleep patterns (i.e., daily hours of sleep)
Implementation Instructions:
- On your first day of fitness programming
- Provide athletes with their physical activity wearable and the guidance sheet (below). Take a few minutes to review the guidance sheet with athletes and caregivers.
- Help athletes sync their wearable to the Special Olympics Fitness app. The Special Olympics Fitness app instructions and video are provided below.
- During your fitness programming
- Encourage athletes to wear the device.
- Talk about physical activity goals and how they are using their device. This will support continued usage of the device throughout your fitness program.
- On your last day of fitness programming
- Make sure your athletes have their data synced to the Special Olympics Fitness app.
- Have a computer ready to help athletes that need their device synced.
Results & Reports: Complete the following Fitness Evaluation Request Form if you would like data reports from SOI. The Research and Evaluation team will provide a link to your data. If you want detailed analyses of your pre/post data, the Research and Evaluation team will create a summary report for you! To receive data from SOI, athletes must be synced to the Special Olympics Fitness app.