Thriving in Motion: a community-based therapeutic physical literacy programme for children experiencing barriers to being active

Regular participation in physical activity is necessary for optimal health and well-being; however, traditional school and community-based activities are poorly placed to engage children who experience individual or socioenvironmental challenges.1 Providing paediatric exercise services that are tailored for and responsive to the needs of children who experience medical, behavioural and/or social challenges to being active is essential for optimising health and encouraging sustained physical activity engagement.2 Founded in 2011, Thriving’s Kids & Teens programme was established in response to an identified community need, specifically a financially accessible therapeutic exercise service for children who struggled to engage in community or school activity, including those living with complex health conditions, neurodivergence, developmental delays and/or emotional, behavioural and social challenges.1 The services that existed were primarily aligned to a medical model, were cost prohibitive for many families and lacked the relatability to typical childhood community sport and activities (eg, social engagement, fun). The programme operates across multiple metropolitan locations in Western Australia and uses a progressive and adaptive model of care based on: