Knowledge Nuggets

People with physical disabilities have a higher likelihood of employment when they participate in sport and exercise. Physically active employees consistently demonstrate improved health and work-related outcomes, including occupational performance and psychological wellbeing. This highlights the importance of physical activity in elevating qualities that stretch beyond physical fitness.

Struggling to keep participants with intellectual and developmental disability and autism spectrum disorder engaged in your exercise program? Research suggests the following motivational and verbal encouragement strategies: use of chants and songs, tapping into their imagination (e.g. competing in a race while on the stationary bike or treadmill), and exercising alongside the participant.

P.R.A.I.S.E. is a tool to help teachers remember the key ingredients for making physical education experiences meaningful and motivational for high school students. The acronym stands for perceived competence, relatedness, autonomy, individuality, social support and enjoyment. Teachers can use these constructs to help increase students’ motivation to participate in physical activity.

For community sport and recreation programs to be inclusive, they need to be built to support the participation of children and youth on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For this reason, researchers from the Canadian Disability Participation Project partnered with Ausome Ottawa to create A Blueprint for Building Quality Participation in Sport for Children and...

Parents in Sport Week (October 4th to 10th) is an opportunity to celebrate the parents and guardians that support youth sport participation. Parents invest significant amounts of time and money in their kids’ sport participation. But while parents of adolescent athletes report more time pressure and life stress than non-sport parents, they also report less...

Today is National Seniors Day! Seniors are integral members of the sport and recreation community, with much skill to offer as athletes and coaches. Sport and physical activity programs provide older adults with opportunities to develop strength, build social networks and travel to new environments.

For new moms, physical activity and social support have the potential to positively impact mental and physical health. In fact, new research shows that group exercise programs for postpartum moms may offer unique opportunities to (re)engage with exercise while navigating new childrearing responsibilities and changes to the body. If you gave birth less than 12...

“Senior decision-makers in community sport organizations need to create opportunities for program leaders to share their experiences and knowledge. Staff know the barriers and challenges experienced by participants, but those barriers and challenges can persist if insights aren’t filtered up the organizational hierarchy.” – Amina Haggar, a University of Ottawa graduate student, shares insights from...

The Canadian Paralympic Committee’s Paralympian Search Program provides an important platform for research on quality Para sport experiences, patterns in Para athlete development trajectories, and the engagement of underserved populations, such as girls and women, in the Para sport system. Learn more.  

Youth participation in organized sport has long-lasting positive effects on health. A new 12-year follow-up study shows that people who participated in organized sport throughout their youth continue to have higher levels of physical activity in adulthood, leading to better long-term cardiovascular health.