2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

319987
What makes a Champion? An evaluation framework for the Be a Champion! comprehensive school physical activity program


Monday, November 2, 2015

Carlene Mayfield, MPH, Department of Health Promotion, Education, & Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Anthony Crimarco, MS, Department of Health Promotion, Education, & Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Ruth Saunders, PhD, Department of Health Promotion, Education, & Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Russell Carson, PhD, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO
Russell Pate, PhD, Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Michael W. Beets, PhD, Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Justin B. Moore, PhD, MS, FACSM, Department of Health Promotion, Education, & Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
background: Benefits of physical activity (PA) are established, and comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) approaches are widely supported to increase PA in schools. Despite high-level CSPAP support (e.g., Let’s Move! Active Schools), little research has been conducted to develop a comprehensive framework for formative/process/impact evaluation of CSPAP implementation. The purpose of this presentation is to describe a comprehensive framework for the evaluation of the Be a Champion! (BAC!) CSPAP project.

methods: BAC! will determine the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of properly trained PA Champions to promote PA in elementary schools. Built upon the CSPAP literature and our previous work, BAC! expands upon previous CSPAP strategies by adding formative evaluation as a step in the CSPAP conducted by the school’s BAC! implementation team. As such, it was necessary to draw upon the evaluation literature and expert opinion to develop a comprehensive framework to, A) guide the research evaluation of the BAC! program, and B) be streamlined for the practical evaluation of the school’s physical, social, and policy environment by the BAC!implementation team.

results:A comprehensive evaluation framework was developed that identifies the core constructs to be assessed and strategies for their assessment by researchers and practitioners.

conclusions: Developing an evaluation framework that is rigorous enough to assess the physical, social, and policy environment of a school in order to answer the overarching research questions of the study, but flexible enough to be feasible to be streamlined for utilization by a school implementation team is challenging, but not impossible.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe a new framework for the evaluation of the physical, social, and policy environment of a school prior to the implementation of comprehensive school physical activity programs. Describe the application of this new framework to evaluate the impact of a comprehensive school physical activity program. Discuss barriers and challenges related to the evaluation of comprehensive school physical activity programs.

Keyword(s): Evaluation, Physical Activity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the project coordinate for the study I will be discussing and have seven years experience delivering, administering, or evaluating physical activity promotion programming.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3313.0: Developing Physically Active Habits at a Young Age