Background Community-based physical activity (PA) programs are appealing to women in Latin America and show potential for improving women’s health. This study aimed to engage healthy middle-aged women, breast cancer survivors and local stakeholders participating in two publicly funded community-based PA programs in Bogotá, Colombia (Recreovía and My Body) to assess and visually map the perceived barriers, facilitators, and outcomes to promote programs’ improvement, scaling and sustainability. Methods We used two participatory action research methods, the 1) Our Voice citizen science method to capture data and drive local change in built and social environmental facilitators and barriers that influence women’s engagement in community-based PA; and 2) Ripple Effects Mapping to visually map the intended and unintended outcomes of PA programs. We used thematic analysis to classify the results at the individual, social, and community levels. Results The stakeholders engaged in the participatory evaluation included cross-sector actors from the programs (N = 6) and program users (total N = 34) from the two programs (Recreovía N = 16; My Body N = 18). Program users were women with a mean age of 55.7 years (SD = 8.03), 65% lived in low-income neighborhoods. They identified infrastructure as the main feature affecting PA, having both positive (e.g., appropriate facilities) and negative (e.g., poorly built areas for PA) effects. Regarding program improvements, stakeholders advocated for parks’ cleaning, safety, and appropriate use. The most highlighted outcomes were the expansion and strengthening of social bonds and the engagement in collective wellbeing, which leveraged some participants’ leadership skills for PA promotion strategies in their community. The facilitated dialogue among program users and stakeholders fostered the sustainability and expansion of the community-based PA programs, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions The implementation of both participatory methodologies provided a multidimensional understanding of the programs’ impacts and multisectoral dialogues that fostered efforts to sustain the community-based PA programs.

Ciclovía Recreativa is a program in which streets are closed off to automobiles so that people have a safe and inclusive space for recreation and for being physically active. The study aims were: (1) to compare participant’s spatial trajectories in four Ciclovía Recreativa programs in Latin America (Bogotá, Mexico City, Santiago de Cali, and Santiago de Chile) according to socioeconomic characteristics and urban segregation of these cities; and (2) to assess the relationship between participants’ physical activity (PA) levels and sociodemographic characteristics. We harmonized data of cross-sectional studies including 3282 adults collected between 2015 and 2019. We found the highest mobility for recreation in Bogotá, followed closely by Santiago de Cali. In these two cities, the maximum SES (socioeconomic status) percentile differences between the neighborhood of origin and the neighborhoods visited as part of the Ciclovía use were 33.58 (p-value < 0.001) and 30.38 (p-value < 0.001), respectively, indicating that in these two cities, participants were more likely to visit higher or lower SES neighborhoods than their average SES-of-neighborhood origin. By contrast, participants from Mexico City and Santiago de Chile were more likely to stay in geographic units similar to their average SES-of-origin, having lower overall mobility during leisure time: maximum SES percentile difference 1.55 (p-value < 0.001) and −0.91 (p-value 0.001), respectively. PA levels of participants did not differ by sex or SES. Our results suggest that Ciclovía can be a socially inclusive program in highly unequal and segregated urban environments, which provides a space for PA whilefacilitat physical proximity, exposure to new communities and environments, and interactions between different socioeconomic groups.

Background Interventions to promote physical activity among women breast cancer survivors (BCS) in low- to middle-income countries are limited. We assessed the acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a theory-driven, group-based dance intervention for BCS delivered in Bogotá, Colombia. Methods We conducted a quasi-experimental study employing a mixed-methods approach to assess the 8-week, 3 times/week group dance intervention. The effect of the intervention on participants’ physical activity levels (measured by accelerometry), motivation to engage in physical activity, and quality of life were evaluated using generalized estimating equation analysis. The qualitative method included semi-structured interviews thematically analyzed to evaluate program acceptability. Results Sixty-four BCS were allocated to the intervention (n = 31) or the control groups (n = 33). In the intervention arm, 84% attended ≥ 60% of sessions. We found increases on average minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day (intervention: +8.99 vs control: −3.7 min), and in ratings of motivation (intervention change score = 0.45, vs. control change score= −0.05). BCS reported improvements in perceived behavioral capabilities to be active, captured through the interviews. Conclusions The high attendance, behavioral changes, and successful delivery indicate the potential effectiveness, feasibility, and scalability of the intervention for BCS in Colombia. Trial registration ClinicalTrial.gov NCT05252780, registered on Dec 7th, 2021—retrospectively registered unique protocol ID: P20CA217199-9492018.

Background In February 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the epidemic of the ZIKA virus (ZIKV) in Latin America to be a public health emergency. In Colombia, 11,944 pregnant women registered a ZIKV infection during the epidemic. So far, little is known about the experiences of women infected with ZIKV during their pregnancy, especially those relating to the provision of health services during the period of the epidemic. Objective To explore the experiences of pregnant women diagnosed with ZIKV infection about the provision of health services in two Colombian cities, considering the perspective of sexual and reproductive rights. Methods Qualitative study under the grounded theory approach, which uses semi-structured interviews as tools to explore the biographical experience of mothers during their gestation process and ZIKV infection, dividing the interview into two broad categories: before and during pregnancy. Results Twenty-two women were interviewed, 10 in Cali and 12 in Villavicencio. The average age at the time of pregnancy was 27.6 years. Most women were not planning at the time of pregnancy and the pregnancy was unwanted. Most campaigns focused on mosquito eradication rather than on sexual and reproductive health campaigns. The quality of health care was not sufficient, adequate, or appropriate. Also, the breakdown of the health system to deal with the pandemic was also noted. Some women were treated with disrespect by health professionals. Voluntary termination of pregnancy was inadequately advised, and women lost autonomy regarding decisions about their health. Conclusions In the health care of ZIKV epidemics, it is necessary to include the gender perspective, more specifically, sexual and reproductive rights. In addition, these epidemics must be addressed through a comprehensive, appropriate, and not fragmented health system, in which sexual and reproductive rights must be mainstreamed in all health promotion and prevention programs.