Shifting the Lines: A Creative Lab for Designing Innovative Physical Activity Promotion in Primary Care
Anna BARAN, Robin OUSTLANDT and Jan BARAN
Traditional approaches to promoting physical activity (PA) often struggle to engage patients and healthcare teams in a lasting way. Yet creative, playful, or unexpected initiatives—sometimes involving the professionals themselves—can transform how PA is addressed in primary care. This workshop offers a participatory space where clinicians and health professionals can generate original, surprising, and feasible ideas to promote PA in their own settings.By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: Generate unconventional and innovative strategies to promote PA among patients and healthcare professionals. Use simple creativity tools (brainwriting, creative constraints, rapid prototyping) applicable to primary care settings. Co-design, in small groups, a prototype of an innovative PA-promotion action tailored to their practice or local context. Identify key elements required to move from a creative idea to real-world implementation (stakeholders, resources, communication).10 minutes: Active icebreaker involving light movement and introdution. 10 minutes: Guided brainwriting using “What if…?” prompts. 20 minutes: Creativity cards introducing playful constraints (e.g., “no equipment,” “in a waiting room,” “with a patient co-facilitator”). Small-group work to prototype an action using quick drawings or mini-sketches. 15 minutes: One-minute pitches of each group’s idea. 5 minutes: Conclusion. Highly interactive format suitable for 15–40 participants.Participants will leave with: -a set of innovative and practical ideas ready to be tested in their own practice or community; -a prototype of a PA-promotion action tailored to their context; -simple creativity tools they can reuse with colleagues; -renewed motivation showing that PA promotion can be dynamic, collaborative, and enjoyable.This workshop will demonstrate that promoting physical activity in primary care can move beyond traditional counselling and become a creative, collective, and empowering process. By engaging participants in playful and imaginative problem-solving, it will encourage clinicians to rethink prevention, embrace innovation, and co-create actions that will resonate more effectively with patients and healthcare teams. The session will aim to spark new ideas, build confidence, and inspire participants to implement fresh, context-specific initiatives within their daily practice.
