ACTION for Men: Study Protocol of a Community Capacity Building Intervention to Develop and Implement Gender-Sensitive Physical Activity Programs for Men 50 Plus

Abstract

Introduction: Capacity building for health promotion is a relevant precondition for sustainable, health-related changes in community settings. So far, there are few evidence-based recommendations about how to implement and evaluate community capacity building approaches. ACTION for men (A4M) is a project designed to build and evaluate capacities for health promotion in three rural communities in Bavaria, Germany, via a participatory approach including multiple community stakeholders. The project specifically aims at improving physical activity (PA) in men over 50 years of age (50 plus). Methods and Analysis: As a strategy to build the communities' capacities, we set up stakeholder groups in so far two communities. Those stakeholder groups will be facilitated over a period of 1-3 years. In regular meetings, the group members will be motivated to actively participate in planning and implementing PA programs for men 50 plus. The facilitation will systematically address key domains of community capacity (e.g., critical awareness, problem assessment, resource mobilization). The evaluation of the capacity building processes will be carried out using a mixed-methods design. Evaluation instruments consist of structured documentations and face-to-face interviews with stakeholder group participants (and drop-outs) as well as a pre-post-test using a standardized questionnaire in order to detect activity-related changes in men 50 plus from the involved communities. In community three, we will conduct the same procedure with a delay of 6 months. Discussion: Building community capacity for health promotion programs is the primary aim in A4M, and thus differs from previous research in which capacity is mostly a means to an end or an "incidental" result of a health promotion program. Therefore, A4M is expected to deliver important findings about how to implement and evaluate capacity building processes for health promotion, as well as how to address physical activity in community settings.

Measuring capabilities in health and physical activity promotion: a systematic review.

“…These di culties notwithstanding, the Capital4Health consortium, under whose auspices this review was conducted, is planning to contribute to the further development of capability measurement in two important ways: First, two of the consortium projects -one working in childcare centres (QueB, [60]) and another in the community setting (Action for Men, [61]) -will apply the qualitative tool developed by Sauter et al [26] in order to test its applicability in different environments and its potential for the comparative evaluation of capabilities. Second, in an attempt to strike a compromise between detailed but setting-exclusive tools and overly generic instruments, the consortium is currently employing a participatory approach to co-develop a framework for conceptualizing and measuring capabilities for PA across the life-course.…”

Capacity Building in Community Stakeholder Groups for Increasing Physical Activity: Results of a Qualitative Study in Two German Communities

“…Figure 1 displays the research procedure and gives an overview over the research methods applied. The exact procedure is addressed in a study protocol [8]. The participants of the study are community members who volunteered to join a participatory stakeholder group, which would plan and implement interventions fostering exercise among older men.…”

“…They facilitated regular stakeholder group meetings (8-30 participants), fostered the development of relationships with other stakeholders, offered knowledge input, and engaged in a stepwise transfer of responsibilities regarding the development and implementation of physical activity measures to the stakeholder group. The health promotion researchers also fed back results from a mixed-methods needs assessment in men 50+ [8] into the stakeholder groups.…”

“…Therefore, we have not assessed the impact of the measures (e.g., SportCard, leaflets) on the exercise behavior and health of the target group of older men. A pre-post survey in Community B is currently being performed to evaluate changes in physical activity [8]. In addition, it would be interesting to measure changes in anthropometry as well as biological markers, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor [54], in those older men who took part in the various exercise offers that were launched in the two communities.…”

“…The cooperation of different local actors and stakeholders can also facilitate structural changes through equitable engagement of diverse partners [6]. Stakeholder involvement is mentioned as a successful health promotion strategy in the Ottawa Charter [1] and can be used to build community capacities by creating knowledge and competencies for health promotion planning in the community [7,8]. Casey et al [9], for example, showed that physical activity programs in communities were not sustainable ('come and try' events rather than structured programs) if key stakeholders were not involved.…”