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Mental Health, Sport & Physical Activity (MHSPA)

Explore the relationship between sport, physical activity, and mental health, and develop skills to promote mental well-being, design interventions, and prevent mental health issues in sports

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CIVIS focus area
Health
Open to
  • Bachelor's
  • Master's
  • PhD
Field of studies
  • Medicine and Health
Type
  • Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP)
Course dates
31 March - 10 June 2025
Apply by
31 October 2024 Apply now

The aim of the course is twofold: on the one hand, at exploring in depth the role of physical activity and sport in mental health and how being active and engaging in sport activities can contribute to people’s wellbeing. On the other hand, at analyzing the deleterious effects of sport activity and how this may compromise mental health and sport.

The MHSPA program aims to provide an innovative educational program which will significantly contribute to the education of Sport Science, Psychology, Medicine, Nursing, and Physiotherapy students.

The study of the relationship between sport and physical activity and mental health is an innovative area of research due to its potential to impact the well-being positively or negatively. The association between sports participation and mental health has been recognized across different age groups. The potential benefits of sport and physical activity extends beyond physical health but also promoting mental health and wellbeing.

Nevertheless, practicing sport is not without risks. Mental health issues among elite athletes but even among community sport athletes and kids are a real concern. These mental health issues may have sport-related manifestations and can impair performance. Furthermore, concerns are rising regarding problematic behaviors associated to physical activity and sport practice, such as addictive patterns of exercise, substance use and abuse, and eating disorders among subgroups of people.

The innovative nature of this area of research is further underscored by the potential for sports to serve as a platform for mental health promotion and early intervention, as well as to prevent the deleterious effects of engaging in sport activities. The program is going to benefit from the needed interdisciplinary expertise that comes from Psychiatry and psychotherapy, Nurse, addiction medicine, Sport medicine, Sport Psychology, Health Psychology, Psychosomatic medicine, Physical Education and Sport Science, Physiology and Motor sciences. The program is also enriched by the input of partners working in different sport, academic, medical and cultural contexts, including sport international associations.

The MHSPA BIP will start with the physical mobility component  (in Lausanne, Switzerland) to enhance team building and student motivation via social collaboration enhanced by social events. 

This strategy will allow to create the group tutoring program, to start with the Group dynamic learning process and to facilitate the future group tasks. 

The virtual mobility program will combine synchronous teaching with online asynchronous sessions.

Teaching and Learning methods:

  • lectures: They will be organized online or face-to-face, depending on the theme;
  • meetings (in Lausanne) with people with life experience (with mental health and sport issues);
  • meetings (in Lausanne) with sports organizations experts;
  • group dynamic (in Lausanne) - solving problems, case analysis and debates aiming at promoting collaborative and interdisciplinary work;
  • group tutoring: each country manager will be responsible for supporting an interdisciplinary group of students;
  • individual work: during the online program, students will be asked to complete (reading, video watching, other assignments);
  • group tasks: at the end of the program, students (in group of 2-3) will be asked to give an online presentation to the whole group on a theme linking sport and mental health. 

Main topics addressed

The MHSPA program will offer 4 modules:

  1. Understanding Mental Health and wellbeing, physical activity (PA) /exercise/sports and their relationships

After completing this module, participants should be able to:

  • identify the main mental illnesses and have essential knowledge on their treatments.
  • discuss the use of PA/ exercise/ sports as a supplement intervention to the other treatments.
  • assess physical activity among people with mental health disorders.

  2. Promoting mental health and wellbeing with PA and sport

After completing this module, participants should be able to:

  • describe the prevention models related to the interplays between PA, sport and mental health;
  • know the recommendations related to adapted PA and exercise to patients with different mental health conditions;
  • understanding the potential of digital tools and wearables in promoting physical activities.

  3. Interventions for mental health disorders based on PA and sport

After completing this module, participants should be able to:

  • identify the barriers towards exercise among persons with mental disorders;
  • know how to design and recommend intervention based on physical activity to promote mental wellness;
  • know how to implement interventions for physical activity among people facing mental illness.

  4. Mental health risks associated with sport activities

After completing this module, participants should be able to:

  • describe the main health issues the sport practice may lead (sport injuries, burnout, anxiety and depression, eating disorders, substance use, ”exercise addiction”);
  • know the screening tools aiming to appraise the common conditions and risk of sport practice;
  • assess the interplays between digital tools (i.e. Social media, video games), wearables and the risk associated with sport activities;
  • design interventions aimed at preventing mental health issues in sports.

Learning outcomes

Key specific learning outcomes

  • understand the biological, psychological and socio-cultural factors involved in mental health and their links with physical activity (M1);
  • explain movement, physical activity, exercise, and sport (M2);
  • design group-tailored interventions based on physical activity and sport to prevent mental disorders and promote mental health and recovery (M3);
  • distinguish between healthy and unhealthy practices in sport and exercise (M4).

Secondary general learning outcomes

  • know mental health and the main psychiatric classifications (M1);
  • develop a multidisciplinary approach to promoting mental health using physical activity and sport (M1, 2, 3, 4);
  • develop a non-stigma approach (M1, 2, 3, 4);
  • explain promotion, prevention, and treatment (M2);
  • summarize the factors regulating human behaviors (M1, 2);
  • describe the role of digitalization in mental health and physical activity (M2, 4).
Dates: 31 March - 10 June 2025 Total workload: 77 hours
Format: Blended ECTS: 3*
Location: Lausanne Language: English
Contact: yasser.khazaal@unil.ch  

*Recognition of ECTS depends on your home university.

Physical mobility

The physical mobility part will be running from 31 March to 4 April 2025 in Lausanne, Switzerland and will include selected components of the teaching program that may benefit more from students’ interactions and debates, for instance. Some of the learning process will include exercise (e.g. relaxation, yoga, endurance and strengths exercises).

Furthermore, the Physical mobility program will allow to offer the meetings with people Life experience (secondary learning outcomes 1,2, 3, Key specific learning outcomes 4) , the meetings with sports organization experts (Key specific learning outcomes 3 and 4) and visit of the Olympic Museum

The physical mobility component will include selected components of the 4 modules (the parts that may benefit more from students’ interactions and debates, for instance: The ones related to the specific learning objectives 1, 3 and 4 and the secondary learning outcomes 5).

Some of the learning process will include exercise (e.g. relaxation, yoga, endurance and strengths exercises) (key specific learning outcomes 2 and 3).

The Lausanne on site meetings will contribute from the beginning to promote a holistic approach and non-stigmatizing posture (secondary learning outcomes 2 and 3).

Sociocultural program will link sport athletism, history, sociology, philosophy, and culture in Lausanne, one of the most important city for olympic activities and sport international associations (Guided visit and tour to the Olympic Museum center of Lausanne, Meeting with a sport international association)

Virtual part

The virtual mobility program will run between 8 April - 10 June 2025 and will combine synchronous teaching with online asynchronous sessions. The virtual component will consist of 10 weekly meetings (2.5hours per week - 1h lecturing + 1.5h tutoring). In addition, students will have to complete 30 hours of individual and group works. 

Students will be able to find all necessary module information such as power point presentations, case studies, bibliography, and video presentations. Direct links to information sources will also be provided. 

During the whole BIP, based on the group tutoring, the students will have a close supervision of their learning and support for their specific tasks. The virtual mobility program will allow to support the individual works and group tasks.

Some of the online lectures will help to reach or complete the secondary learning outcomes (1, 4 and 6), as well as the key learning outcome 1. The individual and group tasks will allow to foster the overall learning and to help participants increase their skills and knowledge related more specifically to some of the key learning outcomes (for instance 3 and 4).

Requirements

This course is open to Bachelor's, Master's and PhD's students at CIVIS member universities, with background in Physical Education, Exercise/ Sport Science, Psychology, Medicine, Nursing, Physiotherapy, motor sciences, and other allied disciplines.

Also, the participants should have English skills, critical thinking, problem solving skills, interdisciplinary collaboration abilities, evidence-based decision making, adaptability and innovation, empathy and advocacy, as well as preventative thinking. 

NB: Visiting Students - Erasmus Funding Eligibility

To be eligible for your selected CIVIS programme, you must be a fully enrolled student at your CIVIS home university at the time you will be undertaking the programme. Click here to learn more about the eligibility criteria.

Students from CIVIS’ strategic partner universities in Africa can also apply for participation in this course. One or two African students are eligible for UNIL mobility scholarships upon selection.

Application process

Send your application by filling in the online application form by 31 October 2024, including:

  • CV
  • Motivation letter

Applications will be evaluated based on:

  1. study disciplines (Medicine, Physical Education, Exercise/Sport Science, Psychology, Nursing, Physiotherapy, motor sciences, and other allied disciplines).
  2. English skills (B2 level recommended)
  3. interest for the topic

Apply now

Assessment

The program is assessed by two separate methods, ending before the last day of the virtual component:

  • a student’s group work (continuous evaluation by tutor group)

The student’s group work will consist of the solution of a given problem (eg: promote physical activities for people with mental disorders) and its defense.  The aim of this group work is to prepare a video presentation. The preparation of this defense will receive half of the assessment (continuous evaluation). The participants will receive a common grade for their group work.

  • presentation (final evaluation)

The defense will offer to small groups of students the opportunity to share their work with the whole group. Each presentation will be debated at the end of the program with all the participants and teachers. The participants will receive a common grade for their defense based on the clarity and quality of the presentation and their ability to answer the questions.

Blended Intensive Programme

This CIVIS course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP): a new format of Erasmus+ mobility which combines online teaching with a short trip to another campus to learn alongside students and professors across Europe. Click here to learn more about CIVIS BIPs.

GDPR Consent

The CIVIS alliance and its member universities will treat the information you provide with respect. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information on our privacy practices. By applying to this course you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

The BIP is launched and organized by: 

  • Yasser Khazaal, Professor of Addiction Psychiatry, including an expertise in digital health and addictive behaviors, University of Lausanne
  • Gorden Sudeck, Professor at the Institute of Sport Science, Faculty of economics and social science, University of Tübingen
  • Koukia Evmorfia, Professor at the Department of Nursing, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Limatola Cristina, Professor of physiology and sport medicine, Sapienza Università di Roma
  • Rubio Victor, Professor of psychology (sport psychology, applied psychology, health psychology), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
  • Jennifer Foucart, Professor of psychology, Faculty of Motor sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles
  • Hamdi Chtourou, Head of the High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sfax.

In addition, the following instructors are associated to this BIP to bring all the needed expertises:

  • Konstantinos Karteroliotis, Professor of Research Methods in Physical Activity, School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Maria Psychountaki, Professor of Psychology and Sport Psychology, School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Nektarios Stavrou, Associate Professsor of Psychology and Sport Psychology, School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Antonios Politis, Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Nikolaos Theodorou, Administrative staff, School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Pierre Oswald, Psychiatrist, Faculty of Motor sciences, Universite Libre de Bruxelles
  • Vitalie Faoro, Bruxelles, Faculty of Motor Sciences, Physiology, Université Libre de Bruxelles
  • Katrin Giel, Professor, Medical University Hospital, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen
  • Dr. Jannika John, Institute of Sport Science, University of Tübingen
  • Giorgio Maccaferri, Psychiatrist, Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, University of Lausanne
  • Vincent Gremeaux, Medical doctor, Sports Medicine Unit CHUV Lausanne, and Associate Professor, Sport science Institute, University of Lausanne
  • Fassassi Gallo Sylfa, Psychiatrist, Psychiatry Department, Lausanne University Hospital
  • Prof. Margo Mountjoy, member of the mental health working group of the International Olympic Committee