“Let’s Talk about Physical Activity”: Understanding the Preferences of Under-Served Communities when Messaging Physical Activity Guidelines to the Public

Abstract

Despite many countries having physical activity guidelines, there have been few concerted efforts to mobilize this information to the public. The aim of this study was to understand the preferences of under-served community groups about how the benefits of physical activity, and associated guidelines, can be better communicated to the public. Participatory workshops, co-developed between researchers, a local charity, and a community artist, were used to gather data from four groups in Bristol, UK: young people (n = 17); adults (n = 11); older adults (n = 5); and Somali women (n = 15). Workshop content was structured around the study aims. The community artist and/or the local charity delivered the workshops, with researchers gathering data via observation, photos, and audio-recordings, which were analysed using the framework method. All four groups noted that the benefits of physical activity should be included within any communications efforts, though not restricted to health-related benefits. Language used should be simple and jargon-free; terms such as “sedentary”, “vigorous” and “intensity” were deemed inaccessible, however all groups liked the message “some is good, more is better”. Views about preferred mechanisms, and messenger, for delivering physical activity messages varied both between, and within, groups. Recommendations for those working in physical activity communications, research, and policy are provided.

Moving through Motherhood: Involving the Public in Research to Inform Physical Activity Promotion throughout Pregnancy and Beyond

“…These discussions stimulated conversation and ideas for additional resources and influenced our decision to develop alternative formats for delivery, resulting in the production of pilot films to represent each character and their personal story. These findings confirm other research that noted a desire for physical activity messages to be relayed by relatable characters via multiple modes of delivery, including video [ 23 ].…”

“…In line with other similar involvement research, women and stakeholders confirmed that physical activity resources need to be credible and trustworthy [ 23 ]. For our project, credibility included content (for example, evidence-based messages), delivery (for example, by a trusted source such as a healthcare professional) and the location of information (for example, on reputable websites).…”

“…By taking the approach of involving and collaborating with women and stakeholders throughout, we were able to develop relevant, relatable pilot resources, informed by women’s experiences of pregnancy, parenting and physical activity. Our participatory approach has been validated by Nobles et al’s research on physical activity messaging with diverse adult groups in Bristol [ 23 ].…”

“…In recent decades, the involvement of, and collaboration with, patients, members of the public and others with relevant lived experience (rather than professional expertise) in health research and healthcare service design has become increasingly commonplace [ 20 , 21 ]. However, this collaborative approach is not commonly adopted in the development of physical activity promotion information, resources and communication, [ 22 , 23 ]. Numerous rationales for more inclusive and collaborative ways of working are invoked and contested but can broadly be separated into two groups: democratic and technocratic.…”

A Scoping Review of Behavior Change Interventions to Decrease Health Care Disparities for Patients With Disabilities in a Primary Care Setting: Can Social Marketing Play a Role?

“…An example of the use of these benchmarks can be found in Yuan et al (2016) who found the presence of more than three benchmark criteria improved the success of behavior change interventions. Additionally, Andreasen’s criteria were used to assess tobacco cessation programs (Almestahiri et al, 2017), to evaluate which theories where used in social marketing health interventions (Luca & Suggs, 2013), and what physical activity messages would resonate more in underserved communities (Nobles et al, 2020). The criteria include: Behavior objectives: A clear behavior change goal is stated without a focus on health education or information sharing. Audience segmentation: A focus on identifying a select group from the larger population, and understanding their unique needs when planning, designing and delivering an intervention. Audience research: The behavior change program must be customer (audience) orientated; this requires listening to the audience to understand what type of intervention would yield the best results. Exchange: The intervention must understand what the audience must give up in order to undertake the desired behavior.…”