Project GiochiAMO, coordinated by Prof. Giuseppe La Torre from the Sapienza Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, has been judged efficient, transferrable and sustainable. It has been recognised as a good practice by the database on health prevention and promotion activities (Pro.Sa).

GiochiAMO began as a pilot project in 2014-15 with the objective of teaching and promoting a healthy life style in primary schools. The project focuses on healthy eating, physical activity, and the prevention of risky behaviour such as the consumption of tobacco and alcohol. Main project tools include the transmission of knowledge, the use of games and teaching competences to learn how to manage and resist to peer pressure. Over the course of the years, the project involved a larger and larger number of classes, until it was run schoolwide. The project has been documented with reports on actions, didactic material, games and scientific publications. 

GiochiAMO promotes health through intersectoral and interdisciplinary actions. It was developed thanks to the collaboration of a wide range of professional figures: hygiene and preventive medicine specialists and specialising students, nutritionists, prevention specialists and schools. The children participated as final beneficiaries, while teachers and parent representatives were the intermediate beneficiaries.

Pro.Sa. collects and documents projects addressing health to further promote them to all those working in this sector. There currently are 4390 registered projects on Pro.Sa., 116 of which in the Lazio Region, but only a small number of projects is recognised as a good practice.

In the scientific and health sectors, actions must be evidence-based to be considered valid. They must be backed up by solid scientific evidence. The concept of “efficiency” is fundamental for the approval of a project as a best practice. However, results must also be transferrable and sustainable. Transferability is the ability to replicate the action in different settings, while sustainability refers to economic feasibility, professional competences and means. 

Info 

Giuseppe La Torre
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome 
giuseppe.latorre@uniroma1.it