The development and distribution of educational materials is a key strategy to support the implementation of evidence-based interventions (EBIs). Rural communities have higher rates of physical inactivity and face higher burden of many diseases that increased physical activity can prevent. To support the translation of a developed physical activity intervention for adults in micropolitan communities (10,000-50,000 people), called Active Iowa, the University of Iowa Prevention Research Center for Rural Health (PRC-RH) created a toolkit and supplemental resources designed to guide implementers through the implementation of the intervention. Through a community-engaged process, the PRC-RH underwent three phases of review and evaluation of the developed products. The first phase involved the Community Advisory Board from the pilot intervention, the second involved the PRC-RH State Advisory Board and public health practitioners from across the state, and the third involved micropolitan leaders and micropolitan health department staff. The feedback received through these three phases resulted in changes to the developed products to improve usability, readability, and clarity. The feedback also resulted in the development of additional materials to further support the implementation of the intervention. The success the PRC-RH experienced in the review process can be attributed to the strong, established partnerships with practitioners across the state who represented a variety of community roles and organizations. The developed materials can be used to improve physical activity rates in rural and micropolitan communities, in turn reducing chronic diseases and improving the quality of life for rural residents.
Black American adolescent girls possess a unique ability to inspire and enact change in their communities yet are overlooked in discussions of leadership and empowerment. Coupled with deficit approaches to school-based physical activity programming, positioning Black girls as physical activity leaders is missing from practice. BLinG-HealthTM (Black Leadership in Girls' Health) trained peer leaders in group fitness instruction that was instrumental in an 8-week after-school physical activity pilot program. This paper presents qualitative data illustrating the program's impact on Black girls leading peers in a group fitness setting using general inductive narrative analysis based on group interviews, observations, reflection notes, and faculty leadership testimonials. Participants exuded community, collaboration, and confidence. Peer leadership was effective but differed. Girls recognized the program's benefits and challenges while enjoying it. Black girls can lead physical activity initiatives when allowed to do so while building a community. Researchers and school and community activists should empower Black girls to lead physical activity programs, which can ultimately foster better health outcomes.
Although yoga improves physical functioning, balance, and quality of life in older adults, rural residents are less likely to participate due to issues related to availability, access, and beliefs regarding yoga practice. To address these barriers, we worked with community partners to adapt a yoga program designed for older adults for telehealth delivery. In this report, intervention development and process outcomes are presented. Community collaborators identified strategies to recruit and retain older adults and suggested modifications required to maximize the adoption and maintenance of a telehealth exercise program by local community organizations. Four rural serving organizations evaluated the program using a wait-list comparison group design. Process measures collected at post-intervention supplemented program evaluation measures collected pre- and post-intervention. The adapted 8-week program consisted of two weekly group sessions delivered over video conferencing software. Of 48 enrolled participants, 83% completed the program. Participants were on average 72.6 (SD=6) years old, majority white (98%), female (85.7%), and attended some college (92%). Most were satisfied with the telehealth delivery, program content, and yoga instructor with mixed results regarding logistical issues such as program length and duration. Community organizations similar to those that will ultimately disseminate the program, yoga teachers, and older adults were engaged to maximize the feasibility of this telehealth exercise program. The program appeared to be safe and acceptable, indicating telehealth may be a strategy to increase access to yoga programs for rural-dwelling older adults. Lessons learned will inform future telehealth iterations of this and similar exercise programming.
The environments in which we live influence our health behaviors and outcomes. The redevelopment of brownfields sites to health-promoting land uses may provide an array of benefits to individuals and communities, but these impacts can be particularly difficult to assess in rural communities using traditional evaluation approaches. This participatory evaluation aimed to explore the impacts of redeveloping rural brownfield sites into health-promoting land uses. Using a facilitated workshop-based Ripple Effects Mapping process, we evaluated three rural brownfields redevelopment sites across Appalachian portions of EPA Region 3 (mid-Atlantic). Adult members (n=32) of these communities participated in guided reflection on the redevelopment and subsequent impacts. Data were constructed as digital mind maps, then coded to the Community Capitals Framework by two authors coding independently. Member checking was conducted with representative workshop participants. Commonly cited impacts were site improvements, facilitation of social and physical activity, and engaging community identity. The most discussed community capitals were social and built; the least discussed capitals were natural and political. Rural brownfield redevelopment targeting physical activity provides the added benefit of engaging an array of community capitals, ultimately strengthening communities on the whole. Future directions for brownfield redevelopment evaluation are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of an online coaching intervention that included goal setting with movement behaviors and perceived general health (GH) and emotional wellbeing (EW) in college students. Participants were college students from a university within the western United States (N=257; 57.2% female). Participants met with health coaches in an online setting for one hour and goals were set for physical activity (PA) and/or sleep duration. PA, sleep duration, and perceptions of GH and EW were collected at baseline and at 2- and 4-weeks after the coaching session within a single arm research design. Mediation analyses determined the indirect effect (IE) of each movement behavior both after the health coaching session and after goal setting on the GH and EW outcomes in addition to the bidirectional association between GH and EW. No movement behavior positively mediated the associations with GH or EW after the health coaching session or after goal setting, although after goal setting PA and weeknight sleep at 2-weeks associated with GH at 4-weeks (β=0.16-0.39, p<0.01) and associated with EW at 4-weeks (β=0.22-0.25, p<0.01). EW mediated the associations of the health coaching session on GH (IE=0.19, p<0.001) and GH mediated the association of the health coaching session on emotional wellbeing (IE=0.09, p<0.001). In conclusion, movement behaviors correlated with GH and EW, but no positive mediating associations were observed. After the health coaching session, EW mediated the association with GH and vice-versa, suggesting a bidirectional association between the two health perceptions.
Physical activity (PA) is an important health behavior that was impacted for many by the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In many places, indoor recreational facilities were required to close; however, many outdoor spaces like trails were available for recreational use. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a mixed-use trail before, during, and after COVID-19 restrictions in a large Colorado city and explore if recreational PA behavior differed between trail users and non-users during those periods. Trail user counts on a mixed-use trail were extracted for 2019 and 2020 from continuous-count data. Trail use habits and recreational PA behavior from before, during, and after restrictions were collected via a retrospective internet survey (N=183). Minutes per week of walking, moderate-to-vigorous PA and total PA were calculated from survey responses. Trail use data were analyzed with a two-way ANOVA and PA data were analyzed with a two-way repeated measures ANOVA. Trail use (average count/day) during COVID-19 restrictions was greater than before by 178 users and after by 96 users. During restrictions, trail users reported 153.5 more minutes of total PA per week than non-users. These results suggest the importance of maintaining accessible outdoor infrastructure for promoting positive PA behaviors in general, and especially in a pandemic situation.
School closures and restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic changed opportunities for youth physical activity (PA). We sought to identify school and other contextual conditions associated with youth PA during the COVID-19 pandemic. A nationally representative, United States sample consisted of 500 parents of children ages 6-10 years old and 500 parent-child dyads with children and adolescents ages 11-17 years old who completed a web-based questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression was used to assess the association between days per week of at least 60 minutes of PA with school, family, and neighborhood characteristics, controlling for child age and gender. Youth engaged in significantly more days per week of PA when they attended school in person; participated in school physical education (PE), school sports, and community sports; and had parents that engaged in high versus low levels of PA. The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted youth PA, in part, due to restriction of school-based PA opportunities. During future pandemics or conditions that necessitate remote learning, attention to opportunities for PA outside of PE class may be important for equitable PA promotion across school modalities.