AMIS Project – Activity and Movement Together for Health – in the Neighborhood Centers of Milan
26 marzo 2025
A new free initiative to promote social connection and healthy lifestyles in Districts 3, 7, 8, and 9 of Milan, thanks to a collaboration between the Wellness Foundation and the Municipality of Milan, with the support of Fondazione di Comunità Milano.
It’s called AMIS , “friend” in Milanese dialect, and it stands for Activity and Movement Together for Health. The project is the result of a collaboration between the Wellness Foundation and the Municipality of Milan, with the support of Fondazione di Comunità Milano. Its goal is to promote active aging by addressing physical decline, social isolation, and unhealthy lifestyle habits.
The project will be hosted from March to July 2025 in four Community Hubs of the Municipality of Milan: “Feltre” – Il Sorriso APS, District 3, “Caio Mario” – Carlo Poma APS, District 7, “Appennini” – Porta del Cuore APS, District 8, “Val di Bondo” – Sempreverdi APS, District 9.
«Regular physical activity is essential for healthy aging: it lowers the risk of chronic diseases and falls, supports mental health, and reduces cognitive decline. Yet, only 22% of people over 65 in Europe meet WHO recommendations. Our social mission is to promote a cultural shift, and that’s why, within the framework of Milano Wellness City 2030, we’ve launched an initiative like AMIS»
Nerio Alessandri
Founder and President of Technogym and the Wellness Foundation
The initiative offers free weekly sessions lasting two hours, led by expert trainers with degrees in Exercise Science, and involves over one hundred older adults. The program includes:
- A warm-up walk to activate muscles
- A guided fitness session to improve strength and balance
- A healthy snack to encourage better eating habits
- “Wellness Pills” – brief talks on the four pillars of a healthy lifestyle: physical activity, nutrition, positive mindset, and quality sleep
Throughout the course, health promotion events open to all members of the Community Hubs will also be held.
This project builds on the successful pilot “Sempreverdi, sempre in forma” conducted in July 2024 by the Wellness Foundation in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan in District 9. Now, the aim is to expand its benefits across more districts and to a growing number of citizens, with a dual objective:
- Encouraging social interaction for adults over 65 and combating loneliness and isolation
- Promoting healthy lifestyles to support active aging and improve overall physical and mental well-being
«In just over twenty years, single-person households have become the majority in Milan. Combating loneliness and delaying the onset of frailty among older adults is one of the great challenges of our time. AMIS addresses both these needs. And by taking place in the newly established Community Hubs, it helps promote them as local resources and welcoming spaces for everyone»
Lamberto Bertolè
Councillor for Welfare and Health, Municipality of MilanThe program includes voluntary pre and post-activity assessments:
(hand grip test, chair stand test to evaluate lower limb strength, and mobility tests) as well as questionnaires (on mental well-being, loneliness and social isolation, and a wellness index evaluating lifestyle habits). These tools will help assess the impact of the initiative.
Expected outcomes include reduced social isolation, improved physical capacity and mental well-being, and better lifestyle habits.
The project is part of Milano Wellness City 2030, a wide-reaching initiative launched in 2023 by the Wellness Foundation to foster a new culture of prevention and healthy living in Milan, also intended as part of the city’s legacy for the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
«There are about 180,000 residents in Milan aged 75 and over—13% of the city’s population. Children aged 5 to 14 number 115,000, or just 8%.
In short, older Milanese are on track to outnumber their grandchildren’s generation.
If we want to meet, and even anticipate, the city’s emerging needs, we must enhance opportunities for health, participation, and awareness among the aging population.
The AMIS project moves precisely in this direction, and for that reason we have chosen to support it as part of Fondazione di Comunità Milano’s broader commitment to the Silver Age».
Carlo Marchetti
resident of Fondazione di Comunità Milano