The story: MOVEment Pills

 

In 2012, our Italian member UISP (Unione Italiana Sport Per tutti), a national sportfor- all NGO, tried an experiment. Could it get pharmacies in Bologna to hand out “Pillole di Movimento” to encourage people to exercise? A cheeky thought, perhaps, but it worked, and by 2022 UISP’s initiative was rolled out to hundreds of Italian municipalities.

The Pillole di Movimento/MOVEment Pills concept is built around the development of a campaign to raise awareness and promote physical activity as a natural remedy capable of preventing and/or lowering the incidence of developing conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle.

Part of UISP’s campaign was the widespread distribution of movement pills boxes – real boxes that resemble those of medicines, but containing a trial subscription for one free month of physical activity in a local gym and swimming pool and a leaflet containing information on the benefits of physical activity and other local sports or gym offers. just like other remedies, these boxes of movement pills are now distributed by pharmacies all around the country.

by 2022, 31 local uisp committees are now involved in the implementation of the initiative, 235 italian municipalities, 370 sports clubs and 2457 pharmacies are engaged, 480,000 pills boxes have been distributed and 1200 local sport and physical activities are offered.

Official website

The story: MOVEment Pills

ISCA launches the concept internationally.

Having learned about the pilot project implemented in Bologna, ISCA took inspiration from the UISP campaign and created a communication and awareness-raising initiative with the same title and similar contents translated into English. ISCA launched the English version of the MOVEment Pills in 2015 as part of the NowWeMOVE campaign.

The NowWeMOVE website now hosts a section dedicated to MOVEment Pills, featuring information on the risks of physical inactivity and the benefits of exercise, the MOVEment Pills “prescription”, plus easy daily physical activity ideas and a set of free workout videos grouped by category (office exercises, home exercises, outdoor stairs and bench and the MOVE Week Gym).