The Activmob concept
Based on its experience working with residents of the Park Wood estate, the Design Council’s team was able to develop its initial Fitmobs concept into a much more developed prototype for Activmobs – a radical new type of service, working outside the NHS, supporting self-organised groups of people to become more active, more often.
The core of Activmobs is the community of mobs, supported by an infrastructure of motivational and communications tools such as the your.mob magazine and the wearemobs.org website. your.mob is a monthly magazine containing both local and national content, designed to keep mobbers informed of activities and encourage new participants. Healthcare professionals might recommend mobs to specific patients to help them become more active, and mobs might start in the workplace. The social software on the wearemobs.org website will also help to connect people by common interest and mobs will grow virally through shared experience and word of mouth.
‘Activmobs make activity a social occasion,’ explains Jennie Winhall, ‘and create the social commitment to turn up and join in. Members have a sense of solidarity and real incentives that help them remain motivated.’
With discounts on facilities, childcare and travel, the Activmobs scheme helps people overcome the barriers to activity: discounts and rewards are offered on completion of well-being cards, which act as a self-motivator and a way of demonstrating the efficacy of the approach in its wider social context.
Each self-formed mob is given a trainer to help them find the right activity, provide practical advice and motivation and set the correct level of activity for each group member. Trainers are professionally qualified and mobs can choose their trainer from the Activmobs magazine or website.
A range of fun and easy to use tools help individuals to visualise their achievements and encourage improvements to overall fitness levels. Commitment is encouraged by the periodic offer of collected rewards that can be obtained by reaching self-set commitment goals. By creating an affiliation of mobs, all of which are committed to activity, Activmobs would become both a lobbying movement with an ability to negotiate discounts, and a potentially lucrative market for providers of activity related products and services.
