Dissemination, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Effective School-Based Intervention to Promote Physical Activity in Adolescents: A Study Protocol

Adolescents around the world do not engage in sufficient physical activity and the Spanish context is no exception. Understanding the educational context as a complex system, school-based multi-level and multi-component interventions seem to be an effective strategy to reverse this trend. Moreover, a co-creational approach seems to facilitate the mobilization of community partnerships and the engagement of stakeholders in the intervention process. This study aims to describe the dissemination, implementation, and evaluation process of an effective school-based intervention program in another setting using the replicating effective programs framework and a co-participatory approach. This study will be conducted in two Spanish secondary schools located in the region of Aragon (experimental vs. control school) in a sample of adolescents in the second grade (13–14 years old). To evaluate the effectiveness, different health behaviors such as physical activity, sleep, sedentary time with screens, nutrition, and psychosocial variables will be quantitatively measured at baseline and after the implementation of the intervention. Qualitative methods will also be used to better understand the implementation process and the co-creation approach, as well as to provide insights into the sustainability of the intervention program. The current study has the potential to provide strong information about the dissemination, implementation, and evaluation process of school-based programs to promote healthy behaviors among adolescents.

P02-01 Promoting Physical Activity in Secondary School for Health, a collaborative European project

Issue

The 2PASS-4Health project (Promoting Physical Activity in Secondary School for Health) was founded by the Erasmus+ Sport programme of the European Union to improve the participation in sport and physical activity (PA). This project aims at examining examples of PA promotion interventions in secondary school, identifying good practices as well as the main barriers and difficulties linked to the design, implementation and evaluation of such interventions in order to improve their quality and sustainability. This project targets both the scientific community and various stakeholders involved in school-based PA promotion for adolescents to provide them with clear knowledge and usable tools. The overall design of this project will be presented as well as the first results and deliverables created to implement the interventions.

Description

In order to fill the existing gap between theory and practice by identifying evidence-based practices that work we are translating recent scientific knowledge into accessible information and tools that meet the needs of the stakeholders in the field. Furthermore, using a co-design approach involving several internationally recognised experts, stakeholders, and end-users, we developed some adapted and ready-to-use contents and we designed an optimised multicomponent school-based intervention that has been implemented in France and Spain. We evaluated these interventions not only in terms of outcomes related to PA and sedentary time, but also in relation to other important domains like implementation or maintenance based on the RE-AIM framework.

Results

We are producing: (1) a white paper geared towards professionals and policy makers, and a consensus statement intended for the scientific community; (2) two handbooks on the implementation of the intervention and its evaluation, accompanied by two scientific publications; (3) an educational toolkit to support PA promotion in schools; and (4) articles on the evaluation of the interventions held in France and Spain.

Lessons

System approach seems needed to implement a sustainable multilevel whole-of-school intervention co-constructed with the different stakeholders and end-users involved.

O6-8 Rethinking schools as a setting for physical activity promotion in the 21st Century - A position paper from the Erasmus+ 2PASS 4Health project

Background

Schools are ideally placed to provide children and adolescents with multiple opportunities to be or learn to be physically active. However, key reviews have reported that interventions to date have largely failed to have any long-term impact on overall physical activity levels. In this position paper, greater attention to key issues is needed to realise the full potential of schools and ideal physical activity for health promotion setting.

Methods

This study draws on multi-author expertise to develop a position paper to advance opinion on school-based programmes. Collaborative conceptual thinking was established through various tools such as literature review, evidence synthesis and online and in person meetings.

Results/Discussion

The adoption of a systems approach is valuable for understanding the complexities of the school setting and to support the implementation of whole-of-school initiatives. Furthermore, we contend that the full range of physical, cognitive, emotional and social benefits that physical activity provides should be considered, rather than a narrow focus solely on physical activity levels. Interdisciplinary research questions are most useful in exploring and evaluating whole-of-school approaches. Informed by process, impact and outcome evaluation and implementation science, both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and a move beyond traditional research design are needed to advance our knowledge of what works, for whom and in what context. Case studies from several European countries will be presented to illustrate examples of systems approaches in action. This includes examples at multiple levels firstly, a national approach including a Physical Education curriculum reformation (Portugal), a regional approach such as a county council partnership with a University to support physical activity promotion (France) and a local approach at the school level i.e. a whole-of-school physical activity programme (Spain and Ireland).

Conclusion

From authors expertise and reflection, this paper makes recommendations on the nature of the evidence required to bridge the implementation gap, sustain and scale-up innovative approaches to whole-of-school programmes.