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Evaluation of the implementation of an intervention to improve the street environment and promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods
BACKGROUND: Levels of physical activity remain low, particularly in deprived areas. Improving the street environment to promote walking for transport using a community engagement approach is a potential strategy to increase physical activity. An understanding of the implementation of this interventi...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BioMed Central
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5557560/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28806940 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4637-5 |
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author | Adams, Emma J. Cavill, Nick Sherar, Lauren B. |
author_facet | Adams, Emma J. Cavill, Nick Sherar, Lauren B. |
author_sort | Adams, Emma J. |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Levels of physical activity remain low, particularly in deprived areas. Improving the street environment to promote walking for transport using a community engagement approach is a potential strategy to increase physical activity. An understanding of the implementation of this intervention approach is needed to facilitate further research, replication and scale-up. The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of the Fitter for Walking (FFW) intervention in deprived neighbourhoods. METHODS: FFW was delivered in five regions of England between August 2008 and March 2012 and aimed to use a community engagement approach to improve the street environment to promote walking for transport. Implementation was assessed in relation to reach; dosage; implementation processes and adaptation; and factors influencing implementation. Three data sources were used: focus groups and face-to-face interviews with coordinators; implementation logs; and participation records. RESULTS: Reach: 155 community groups participated in FFW engaging 30,230 local residents. Dosage: A wide variety of environmental improvements were implemented by local authorities (LAs) (42 projects) and by communities (46 projects). Examples of LA-led improvements included removal of encroaching vegetation, new/improved pedestrian signage, new dropped kerbs/kerb improvements and new, repaired or improved footpaths. Examples of community-led improvements included planting bulbs, shrubs or bedding plants, clean-up days and litter pick-ups. In 32 projects, no environmental improvements were implemented. Promotional and awareness-raising activities were undertaken in 81 projects. Examples included led walks, themed walks, development of maps/resources to promote improved routes and community events. Processes and adaptation: The need for a planning phase, a preparatory phase, and a delivery phase with a four step process were identified. Adaptability to local context was important. Factors influencing implementation: Five key themes were identified in relation to the barriers and facilitators of implementing FFW: local knowledge and contacts; intervention delivery; coordinator role; working with LAs and other partners; and working with communities. CONCLUSIONS: FFW is one of few reported interventions which have used a community engagement approach to change the street environment to promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods. Delivering these types of interventions is complex and requires considerable resource and time. A set of recommendations and an implementation framework are proposed for future delivery of this and similar types of programme. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4637-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5557560 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | BioMed Central |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-55575602017-08-16 Evaluation of the implementation of an intervention to improve the street environment and promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods Adams, Emma J. Cavill, Nick Sherar, Lauren B. BMC Public Health Research Article BACKGROUND: Levels of physical activity remain low, particularly in deprived areas. Improving the street environment to promote walking for transport using a community engagement approach is a potential strategy to increase physical activity. An understanding of the implementation of this intervention approach is needed to facilitate further research, replication and scale-up. The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of the Fitter for Walking (FFW) intervention in deprived neighbourhoods. METHODS: FFW was delivered in five regions of England between August 2008 and March 2012 and aimed to use a community engagement approach to improve the street environment to promote walking for transport. Implementation was assessed in relation to reach; dosage; implementation processes and adaptation; and factors influencing implementation. Three data sources were used: focus groups and face-to-face interviews with coordinators; implementation logs; and participation records. RESULTS: Reach: 155 community groups participated in FFW engaging 30,230 local residents. Dosage: A wide variety of environmental improvements were implemented by local authorities (LAs) (42 projects) and by communities (46 projects). Examples of LA-led improvements included removal of encroaching vegetation, new/improved pedestrian signage, new dropped kerbs/kerb improvements and new, repaired or improved footpaths. Examples of community-led improvements included planting bulbs, shrubs or bedding plants, clean-up days and litter pick-ups. In 32 projects, no environmental improvements were implemented. Promotional and awareness-raising activities were undertaken in 81 projects. Examples included led walks, themed walks, development of maps/resources to promote improved routes and community events. Processes and adaptation: The need for a planning phase, a preparatory phase, and a delivery phase with a four step process were identified. Adaptability to local context was important. Factors influencing implementation: Five key themes were identified in relation to the barriers and facilitators of implementing FFW: local knowledge and contacts; intervention delivery; coordinator role; working with LAs and other partners; and working with communities. CONCLUSIONS: FFW is one of few reported interventions which have used a community engagement approach to change the street environment to promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods. Delivering these types of interventions is complex and requires considerable resource and time. A set of recommendations and an implementation framework are proposed for future delivery of this and similar types of programme. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4637-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. BioMed Central 2017-08-14 /pmc/articles/PMC5557560/ /pubmed/28806940 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4637-5 Text en © The Author(s). 2017 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Adams, Emma J. Cavill, Nick Sherar, Lauren B. Evaluation of the implementation of an intervention to improve the street environment and promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods |
title | Evaluation of the implementation of an intervention to improve the street environment and promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods |
title_full | Evaluation of the implementation of an intervention to improve the street environment and promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods |
title_fullStr | Evaluation of the implementation of an intervention to improve the street environment and promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods |
title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of the implementation of an intervention to improve the street environment and promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods |
title_short | Evaluation of the implementation of an intervention to improve the street environment and promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods |
title_sort | evaluation of the implementation of an intervention to improve the street environment and promote walking for transport in deprived neighbourhoods |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5557560/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28806940 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4637-5 |
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