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An Evolving Model of Best Practice in a Community Physical Activity Program: A Case Study of "Active Herts"

Carr, Shelby; Burke, Amanda; Chater, Angel Marie; Howlett, Neil; Jones, Andy; (2021) An Evolving Model of Best Practice in a Community Physical Activity Program: A Case Study of "Active Herts". Journal of Physical Activity and Health , 18 (12) pp. 1555-1562. 10.1123/jpah.2021-0078. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: Community-based physical activity programs typically evolve to respond to local conditions and feedback from stakeholders. Process evaluations are essential for capturing how programs are implemented, yet often fail to capture delivery evolution over time, meaning missed opportunities for capturing lessons learned. Methods: This research paper reports on a staged approach to a process evaluation undertaken within a community-based UK 12-month physical activity program that aimed to capture change and adaptation to program implementation. Twenty-five one-to-one interviews and 12 focus groups took place over the 3 years of program delivery. Participants included program participants, management, and service deliverers. Results: Program adaptations that were captured through the ongoing process evaluation included changes to the design of promotional material, program delivery content, ongoing training in behavior change, and the addition of regular participant community events. The authors address how these strands evolved over program delivery, and how the process evaluation was able to capture them. Conclusion: The pragmatic evaluation approach enabled changes in response to the local context, as well as improvements in the program to be captured in a timely manner, allowing the delivery to be responsive and the evaluation flexible.

Type: Article
Title: An Evolving Model of Best Practice in a Community Physical Activity Program: A Case Study of "Active Herts"
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1123/jpah.2021-0078
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2021-0078
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Public, Environmental & Occupational Health, process evaluation, public health, pragmatic evaluation, community approaches, ACTIVITY INTERVENTIONS, QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10149173
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