Siel Bleu network: a long-standing presence
The countries where Siel Bleu intervenes are an opportunity for any new project leader. They allow us to understand and analyze the best practices to adopt in order to adapt them to the specificities of each new structure that starts. Discover their stories and take your turn to spread Adapted Physical Activity and spread more smiles!
In France, the Siel Bleu Association
The Siel Bleu Association was created in 1997, in France and more precisely in Strasbourg. How did the Association come into being? How did this idea come about? It's here, we explain you everything about the Association Siel Bleu below.
A bit of history
Jean-Michel Ricard and Jean-Daniel Muller, the future founders of Siel Bleu, were still students in "STAPS" (Sciences and Techniques of Physical and Sports Activities), when they discovered the fear of residents in retirement homes to take risks or to exercise.
During this internship, they built strong relationships with them and offer them adapted and fun physical activities.
After a 6-month experiment in 12 retirement homes in the Bas-Rhin department, the Siel Bleu Association was created in 1997 to generalize and offer its interventions on a national scale.
Development
At the beginning of the adventure, the Siel Bleu Association was mainly in retirement homes and spreads throughout France, in all departments.
Through meetings, demonstrations and calls for projects, the Siel Bleu Association has developed through each Sielbleusien to establish links at the local, regional and national levels. Step by step, the Siel Bleu Association is growing and developing its types of sessions according to the needs of society: people suffering from chronic diseases and specific pathologies (cancers, cardiovascular diseases...), people with disabilities, young seniors, caregivers and care professionals, people suffering from social insecurity, workers or all types of vulnerable people: prisoners, migrants...
Geographical and financial accessibility are the key words of the Siel Bleu Association.
Because health is a right and should never become a luxury, the Siel Bleu Association support any person in a fragile situation.
Expansion notably through
- Retirement homes
- Individuals : at home
- Collective sessions set up through mutual and complementary health insurance companies, local and regional actors: municipalities, CPAM, CCAS...
- Siel Bleu at work
To learn more about the best practices from the case study of the Association Siel Bleu (phase 1 of the Moov&Smile project), leave us your email address to be alerted as soon as our white paper is published:
The Siel Bleu France Association today is
- 760 graduated professionals
- 40,000 sessions per week
- Over 200,000 participants per week
- Interventions on 10,000 sites
Its added touch
- Siel Bleu Gender Equality Index : 99/100 (Siel Bleu is invested in the ODD)
- Eco-Health Project to reduce the impact of climate change by promoting the resumption of walking and cycling for an active and sustainable mobility among autonomous participants during our group sessions
- Prevention desert project to fight against medical deserts and to give the possibility to access to sessions
- 40,000 hours at home: sessions at home doubled in 2021
And you, when do you start with us?
In Belgium, GymSana
GymSana is the Belgian entity of Siel Bleu.
Is the name of the association an exception?
Indeed, in Belgium, the name of the structure is different. The choice of this name was adopted to be in line with the multilingualism of the country.
A bit of history
GymSana was created in 2008 through a meeting between Thierry, Jean-Daniel and Jean-Michel. Convinced by the cause that the Siel Bleu Association defends, but also by its values, Thierry was keen to set up this initiative in Belgium.
The development of GymSana shows that the meaning of words is important from one country to another and that it is important to adapt one's vocabulary according to the country and its specificities.
Development
Each country has its own specificities and this is one of the strengths of Siel Bleu: adaptation.
GymSana has followed a different development path than the Siel Bleu Association in France. In fact, in Belgium, in "rest homes" (called retirement homes in France), a physiotherapist is present full time.
GymSana has therefore explored other paths of development and intervention with municipalities, calls for projects, etc.
The work of the calls for projects, whether they are won or not, has enabled GymSana to become known little by little. Relying on a leading institution which will be able to give credibility to your actions, sources of funding and information is a good practice to remember. GymSana is notably winner of the King Baudouin Foundation's "Off the beaten track" prize. The Association has been awarded the prize for innovative social enterprise. GymSana is now recognized as a key player in the field of health prevention.
Main areas of intervention
- Rest homes
- Municipalities
- Day care centers
- Associations
- At home
Its flagship programs
- Chair Gymnastics
Prevention of falls in a sitting position (mainly in th rest homes) - Soft Gmnastics
Falls prevention (in the municipal or association halls) - Active Gymnastics
Prevention of falls in a seated position (in community halls or associations)
To learn more about the best practices resulting from the case study on the creation and sustainability of GymSana (phase 1 of the Moov&Smile project), leave us your email address to be alerted as soon as our white paper is published:
GymSana today is
- Interventions in Wallonia and Brussels-Capital
- 17 graduated professionals
- 2,500 participants per week
- 8,900 hours per month in 2019
- 231 sites including 121 municipalities
Its added touch
- Within the framework of the "Integrated Care Plan" GymSana is a partner and provides APA in 3 projects: PACT (Hainaut Centre), RéLIAN (Liège, Seraing) and BOOST (Brussels)
- April 2019: The Parliament of the French Community voted unanimously, across all political parties, a resolution "to make regular physical activity a public health tool"
- "My fitness calendar, I move at home for my health" is a booklet for seniors without a computer or Internet, including 4 weeks of soft exercises. This booklet was designed to fight against the digital divide.
Want to get started with us?
In Ireland, Siel Bleu Ireland
September 10, 2010: date that marks the official creation of a new association, Siel Bleu Ireland!
A bit of history
The Siel Bleu Association in France was recognized as an Ashoka Fellow in 2006. Through this network, beautiful meetings have led to the birth of Siel Bleu Ireland in 2010.
The development of Siel Bleu Ireland was based on retirement homes. They continue to be the main partners of the association today. The impact and the benefits of the sessions have brought credibility, which has made other retirement homes want to contact Siel Bleu Ireland and join the adventure.
Since its inception, Siel Bleu Ireland has worked with over half a million retirement homes and day care centers, offering programs tailored to all individuals, regardless of their abilities.
Development
The development of Siel Bleu Ireland has also been done through patient associations. Indeed, it is noted that in Ireland, many people suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, a chronic respiratory disease). Thus, in 2013, Siel Bleu Ireland designed, in collaboration with a pharmaceutical company specialized in respiratory diseases, a community-based rehabilitation program for people with COPD and those who have undergone pulmonary rehabilitation.
It is through the success of these types of projects that Siel Bleu Ireland has continued to expand.
Depending on the needs of the country, some projects have been created and the impact of the sessions allow the participants to improve their quality of life.
Main areas of intervention
- Retirement homes
- At home
- Day care centers
- Patient Associations
- Community Groups
Learn more about the case study tracing the beginnings of Siel Bleu Ireland (phase 1 of the Moov&Smile project), leave us your email address to be alerted as soon as our white paper is published:
Siel Bleu Ireland today is
- 22 graduated professionals
- 6,500 participants per week
- 292 sessions per week
- 226 sites
- Sessions in 20 counties
Its added touch
- SielBleu at home during the covid:
10 countries/ 12 U.S. states/ 1.55 million minutes of video watched/ 30+ live classes per week - Throughout the year 2020, Siel Bleu Ireland has been featured in numerous media outlets, including print, online and national television
- Siel Bleu Ireland was 92% profitable before the Covid
- Social media: With the introduction of Siel Bleu at Home in 2020, we have increased the number of ourlikes"on Facebook by more than 2,000 and by nearly 900 subscribers on YouTube.
And you, when do you start with us?
In Spain, Fundación Siel Bleu
It was the identification of a social action opportunity that allowed the creation of Fundación Siel Bleu in Spain from 2012.
A bit of history
Thanks to these social actions, some forty senior centers and twenty retirement homes have discovered Siel Bleu sessions. Fundación Siel Bleu, based in Barcelona, has since expanded to six other autonomous communities in Spain.
Development
Fundación Siel Bleu designs programs with a preventive approach that benefits everyone, at any age and at any stage of life.
Over the years, Fundación Siel Bleu has been working with retirement homes, as well as municipalities. Making physical exercise accessible through a simple and effective methodology, using resources such as health parks, city hall facilities or outdoor spaces, has been a development path for Fundación Siel Bleu.
The preventive health and physical trainers also make sessions at home and in companies and have developed online training sessions for nursing staff.
Main areas of intervention
- Rest homes
- Municipalities
- Patient Associations
Its flagship programs
- Gymnastics around the table
- Chair gymnastics
- Alzheimer Gymnastics
- Falls prevention
To learn more about the best practices from the case study on the creation and sustainability of Fundación Siel Bleu in Spain (phase 1 of the Moov&Smile project), leave us your email address to be alerted as soon as our white paper is published:
Fundación Siel Bleu today is
- 77 graduated professionals
- 7,132 participants per week
- 25,948 sessions in 2019
- 226 sites
- Sessions in 7 Autonomous Communities (regions)
Its added touch
- Fundación Siel Bleu organized a flashmob to prevent sedentary lifestyles among the elderly at a Fira Gran, 2016
- GetphY: it's already 16 video clips made for Boehringer Ingelheim laboratory and soon in Brazil and Germany
- 42 hours of virtual training to continue to provide knowledge and best practices to nursing home care professionals during a pandemic.
- In 2020, Fundación Siel Bleu organized 7 virtual trainings on musculoskeletal disorders for nursing homes Domus Vi. It succeeded in training approximately 140 professionals during 42 hours of training.
And you, when do you start with us?
Moov&Smile
by Siel Bleu
Project supported by the European Commission, within the framework of the Employment and Social Innovation Programme (EaSI) 2014-2020
Co-funded by the European Union
Funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission's Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) program. Neither the European Union nor EaSI can be held responsible.
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