Portrait

Leonard Oppermann studied Sports Science and Ethnology at the Georg-August-University Göttingen from 2014-2017. After completing his master's degree in sports science with a focus on prevention, rehabilitation and psychosocial health, he has been doing his doctorate at Hannover Medical School in the doctoral program "Chronic Diseases and Health Literacy" (ChEG) since April 2020.

During his studies, he worked as a student assistant at Göttingen University Sports in the Healthy Campus - Health Promotion for Students project, at the Institute of Sports Sciences in the Sports and Health Sociology department and at the University Didactics department in the Research-Oriented Teaching and Learning project.

Topic of the doctorate

Promotion of exercise-related health literacy through digital workplace-related health promotion

Background

The positive influence of regular exercise on health and disease prevention has been proven by many studies. The model of physical activity-related health literacy was developed to explain why people can benefit from the health-promoting effects of physical activity and integrate them into their everyday lives (Carl, Sudeck & Pfeifer, 2020; Sudeck & Pfeifer, 2016). The model comprises the three sub-competencies of movement competence, control competence and self-regulation competence. With well-developed health literacy, it can be assumed that an individual is able to find, understand, critically evaluate and apply information on health-promoting physical activity.

Aim

To investigate the extent to which the teaching of movement-related health literacy in exercise videos can contribute to increasing the amount of time spent on health-promoting physical activity by office workers.

Method

In a pilot study, participants receive a total of 10 videos over five weeks, each containing an exercise that can be performed directly at the workplace, supplemented with aspects of movement-related health literacy. The study will examine how the amount of time spent on physical activity and exercise-related health literacy change after the intervention. In addition, qualitative interviews will be conducted with the participants after the pilot study has been completed in order to revise the intervention and make it more suitable for the target group of office workers.

Publications

Fischbock N, Oppermann L, Lander J, Seidel G, Walter U (2025). Health literacy as a building block of prevention and health promotion: An introduction for nursing education. Nursing Education 2/2025, pp. 2-7.

Oppermann L & Dierks ML (2025). Promotion of exercise-related health literacy through digital workplace-based health promotion - Results of a pilot project. German Journal of Sports Medicine 76(3).

Oppermann L and Dierks M-L (2025). Promotion of physical activity-related health competence using digital workplace-based health promotion: a pilot study for office workers. Front. Public Health 13:1437172. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1437172

Carl J, Zheng M, Popp J, Eckert K, Geidl W, Blaschke S, Schmid J, Grüne E, Oppermann L, Liphardt A-M, Morf H, Weissenfels A, Pfeifer K (2024). Competencies for health-enhancing physical activity are associated with body mass: results of an updated data pooling across 18 samples. Obesity (Silver Spring), 2024;1-14. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.24121

Oppermann L, Dierks ML (2024). Perspectives of participants in a pilot program to promote physical activity-related health literacy in the workplace. Health - together. Cooperation conference of the German Society for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS), German Society for Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP), German Society for Epidemiology (DGEpi), German Society for Medical Sociology (DGMS) and the German Society for Public Health (DGPH). Dresden, 08-13.09.2024. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2024. docAbstr. 25. doi: 10.3205/24gmds291

Oppermann L, Posselt J, Seidel G, Dierks M-L (2024). Promotion of exercise-related health literacy in the workplace - qualitative evaluation of a pilot program. Prev Gesundheitsf doi.org/10.1007/s11553-024-01133-z

Oppermann L, Bornemann A, Martinović G, Seidel G, Dierks M-L (2023). Reach of health information via YouTube using the example of the digital patient university of Hannover Medical School. Healthcare 2023; 85(08/09): 818 - 819. doi:10.1055/s-0043-1770633

Oppermann L, Dierks M (2023). First results of the development of an intervention to increase physical activity-related health literacy in office workers. Managing performance. Strengthen health. Promoting development. Abstract volume of the 26th dvs University Conference, Bochum, September 20-22, 2023. p. 323. Hamburg: Feldhaus.

Oppermann L, Dierks M (2023). Promoting physical activity-related health literacy through digital workplace-based health promotion. Healthcare 2023; 85(08/09): 821 - 821. doi:10.1055/s-0043-1770643

Oppermann L, Dierks M-L (2023). Promotion of physical activity-related health competence using digital workplace-based health promotion: protocol for a controlled before-and-after study. BMJ Open Sp Ex Med 2023; 9:e001464. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2022-001464

Häberle N, Oppermann L (2022, August): Quantitative facets of health literacy - using the example of OGK & BGK. Workshop as part of the summer school chronic diseases and interdisciplinary health literacy research, Hanover, 01.08.2022.

Oppermann L (2022). Similarities and differences between health literacy and exercise-related health literacy - comparison using a practical example. Public Health 2022; 84: 852 DOI 10.1055/s-0042-1753951

Oppermann L (2022, August): Promoting physical activity-related health literacy through digital workplace-based health promotion. Poster presentation at the Summerschool chronic diseases and interdisciplinary health literacy research, Hannover, 01.08.2022.

Oppermann L, Dierks M-L (2022): Promotion of exercise-related health literacy through digital workplace-based health promotion. Poster presentation at the symposium "Gesundheitskompetenz zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis" of the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hanover, 15.09.2022.

Oppermann L, Silke M (2022, August): Health literacy in physiotherapy. Workshop as part of the summer school chronic diseases and interdisciplinary health literacy research, Hanover, 01.08.2022.

Posselt J, Ahrens S, Oppermann L, Naef AN (2022): Interdisciplinary health literacy research. the perspective of early career researchers. Findings from the ChEG Summer School. In: Qualitas 22(4), pp. 34-36.