A large-scale, geographical approach to using group concept mapping for planning: The Teen Opinions Count (TOC) project

The use of group concept mapping (GCM) for large-scale, multi-site planning has been limited. The Teens Opinions Count (TOC) project utilized the group concept mapping methodology to develop a framework for after school time program development for teens in 16 counties in the Southeast Michigan and Western New York regions. This extensive planning effort demonstrated a large-scale, geographical approach to the implementation of GCM, where multiple sites (in this case counties) simultaneously engaged in independent processes on the same topic, with the purpose of producing separate locale-specific conceptualizations. TOC was the largest GCM project ever conducted in terms of the number of participants and volume of data submitted. This report details GCM recruitment, data collection, data compilation, and analysis of ideas from over 20,000 teens and 2,000 adults. Although implementation was conducted at the county level, many of the separate county-level GCM processes were larger than what is typically encountered in the literature. Operationalizing GCM at such a scale required significant planning, design, communication, and data management solutions. The extensive data collection effort required the need for creative and innovative procedures to engage teens and process the sheer volume of data. The lessons learned are discussed and suggestions for future applications offered.

A scoping review of physical activity and screen time guidelines for use in Outside School Hours Care

Background

Globally, millions of children attend Outside School Hours Care. Children’s activity in this setting is critical to meeting daily physical activity recommendations. Guidelines are evidence-based statements intended to optimise practice. This study aimed to identify guidelines used in Outside School Hours Care for physical activity and screen time and summarise their content and methods of development.

Methods

Outside School Hours Care guidelines for children aged 5 to 12 years were identified by systematically searching Medline, Emcare, Embase, Scopus, ERIC, Sportsdiscus, TROVE, ProQuest, UpToDate, NICE, SIGN and Google in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The search was conducted in March 2019 and results screened independently by two authors. Data were synthesized narratively.

Results

Nine guideline documents were identified from grey literature only (n = 8 USA, n = 1 Canada). The included guidelines focused predominantly on the after school care period (n = 9 vs n = 2 for the before school period). All had recommendations for physical activity, whilst 7 included screen time recommendations. There was considerable variability across the physical activity and screen time recommendations, though taken together, they recommended 30–60 min of moderate- to- vigorous physical activity and less than 60 min of recreational screen time per session. All guidelines were developed by expert/stakeholder panels, but none followed rigorous guideline development methods.

Conclusions

Limited published guidelines for physical activity and screen time in Outside School Hours Care exist. There is a variation in duration and intensity of physical activity recommended, whilst screen time recommendations are more consistent. Guidelines designed with rigorous tools and for other world regions are warranted.

Investigating longitudinal context-specific physical activity patterns in transition from primary to secondary school using accelerometers, GPS, and GIS

INTRODUCTION

Previous longitudinal studies indicate that physical activity (PA) significantly declines from primary-to secondary school, and report both changes in individual and environmental determinants of PA. In order to understand this transition and to prevent this negative trend, it is important to gather contextually rich data on possible mechanisms that drive this decline. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate changes of PA patterns in transition between primary and secondary school, and to add domain-specific insights of how, where, and when these changes occur.

METHODS

In total, 175 children participated in a 7-day accelerometer- and Global Positioning System (GPS) protocol at their last year of primary and their first year of secondary school. GPS data-points were overlaid with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data using ArcGIS 10.1 software. Based on the GPS locations of individual data-points, we identified child's PA at home, school, local sports grounds, shopping centers, and other locations. Also, trips in active and passive transport were identified according to previously validated GPS speed-algorithms. Longitudinal multi-level linear mixed models were fitted adjusting for age, gender, meteorological circumstances, and the nested structure of days within children and children within schools. Outcome measures were minutes spent in light PA and moderate-to-vigorous PA, specified for the time-segments before school, during school, after school and weekend days.

RESULTS

Total PA significantly declined from primary to secondary school. Although transport-related PA increased before- and during school, decreases were found for especially afterschool time spent at sports grounds and transport-related PA during weekends.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first study that demonstrated longitudinal changes of context- and domain-specific PA patterns in transition between primary and secondary school, based on device-assessed PA. Given the importance of this transition-period for the development of long-term PA patterns, results from this study warrant the development of evidence-based PA programs in this transition period, while acknowledging the integrative role of schools, parents, and afterschool sports providers. More specifically, the results underline the need to increase children's PA levels in primary schools, promote afterschool PA at secondary schools, and to prevent the drop-out in sports participation at secondary schools.

The influence of junior coaches on club members in the Start2Finish Running & Reading Club: A qualitative study

INTRODUCTION

This study's purpose was to explore youth leaders' involvement and influence on younger program participants in a physical-activity-based positive youth development program (PA-PYD).

METHODS

A case study was conducted where 16 youth leaders (8 males, 8 females, M_age = 13.37, SD = 1.36) and 15 program participants (8 males, 7 females, M_age = 10.53, SD = 1.12) from four sites of a PA-PYD program in Canada participated in one-on-one semi-structured interviews regarding their program experiences. A deductive-inductive thematic analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

Five themes were identified: (a) learning and building skills, (b) receiving support, (c) enjoyment, (d) relatability, and (e) challenges faced. Program participants shared several ways in which the youth leaders they interacted with had a positive influence on their personal experiences. The youth leaders' perceptions largely aligned with those of the program participants.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides insight into the value that youth leaders can bring to youth programming.

Building Resilience After School for Early Adolescents in Urban Poverty: Open Trial of Leaders @ Play

Leaders @ Play is a park after-school program for urban middle school youth designed to leverage recreational activities for social emotional learning. Mental health and park staff co-facilitated sports and games to teach and practice problem solving, emotion regulation, and effective communication. Additional practice occurred during multi-family groups and summer internships as junior camp counselors. We examined feasibility and promise via an open trial (n = 3 parks, 46 youth, 100 % African American, 100 % low-income, 59 % female, M = 13.09 years old). Improvements in social skills and reductions in problem behaviors lend support to after school programs as a space for mental health promotion.

Afterschool shared use of public school facilities for physical activity in North Carolina

OBJECTIVE

To determine the status and common characteristics of shared use in public schools in North Carolina.

METHOD

All public school principals (N=2,359) in North Carolina were invited to participate in an online survey (February - May, 2013) designed to provide baseline information about the extent and nature of shared use of school facilities.

RESULTS

Responses (n=1182, 50.1%) indicated that most schools share their facilities (88.9%). Formal agreements were more common when schools shared gyms and outdoor athletic fields. Informal agreements were most common with playgrounds and track facilities. Schools with more low income or Black students were less likely to share facilities. For schools that did not share use of their facilities the most frequent reason was no outside groups had ever asked.

CONCLUSION

Schools may be more accommodating to shared use partnerships. Community organizations seeking to use indoor school facilities or athletic fields should be prepared to complete a formal written agreement. Preconceived notions that schools are unwilling to share their facilities may be preventing community organizations from initiating shared use inquiries. Schools located in the middle tier of economic distress and schools with a greater concentration of Black students were less likely to share their facilities.