Educators’ Barriers and Facilitators to Physical Activity Policy Implementation in the Childcare Setting: Qualitative Findings From the Play Active Project

Abstract

Purpose We explored childcare educators’ perceived barriers and facilitators to policy implementation in order to inform the development and implementation of an early childhood education and care (ECEC) specific physical activity policy. This study was part of the Play Active (2019-2023) project which aimed to develop, implement and evaluate evidence-based physical activity policy to improve physical activity levels in children attending ECEC. Approach Stakeholder focus groups. Setting: ECEC centers in Perth, Western Australia. Sample: Educators (n=66) from 11 ECEC centers participated in 13 focus groups (August-September 2019). Methods Semi-structured questions explored educators’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators to implementing a new physical activity policy. A qualitative descriptive approach within a naturalistic framework informed data analysis. Focus group data were reviewed and grouped through several iterations to produce core themes. Results Four core themes resulted from focus groups: (1) leadership; (2) educator mindset: (3) parent engagement; and (4) organisational and educator capacity. Educators needed supportive leadership and a commitment of resources for physical activity policy implementation. Educators acknowledged physical activity practices can be influenced by knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and change capacity and stressed the need for parent engagement for successful implementation. Conclusions Educators’ voices are important for informing implementation of physical activity policy and practices leading to improvements in children’s physical activity levels.

Play Active physical activity policy intervention and implementation support in early childhood education and care: results from a pragmatic cluster randomised trial

“…Furthermore, future ECEC policy interventions could include additional implementation support strategies, including audit, feedback, and providing prompts [14], which could improve the effectiveness of physical activity policy interventions. Future implementation strategies may also include engaging parents and obtaining a commitment of resources and funding, methods that have been suggested by ECEC educators as important for implementing physical activity policies [20].…”

“…An ECEC-specific physical activity policy is more likely to be effective if implemented in conjunction with effective implementation supports such as educator professional development and training [19]. Furthermore, policy implementation needs to account for the local and broader ECEC implementation context and barriers and enablers, including committed and practical leadership, organisation and educator capacity related to funding and staffing, educator mindset related to perceived weather barriers and risk aversion, and levels of parent engagement [14,20]. Intervention research is required to understand the impact of ECEC-specific physical activity policies and implementation strategies on educator's physical activity provision-related practices [19,21].…”

Movement behavior policies in the early childhood education and care setting: An international scoping review

“…Further, to address barriers identified by ECEC services, implementation supports should be ongoing to ensure transfer of knowledge to new ECEC staff in a traditionally high turnover work setting ( 82 ). Specifically, supports should be tailored to overcome barriers in the ECEC setting ( 88 ) that can influence the implementation success of an ECEC-specific movement behavior policy.…”

“…Further, legislation that proportionally reflects current evidence, i.e., 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years ( 9–11 , 13 ) may provide an impetus to meet policy recommendations. In conjunction with improving young children’s health and development, ECEC-specific movement behavior legislation facilitates increased policy compliance, drives educator and service capacity building, embeds policy, normalizes practice ( 81 , 88 , 97 , 98 ) and can be leveraged off existing national quality monitoring processes. Importantly, the presence of ECEC-specific movement behavior legislation aligns with other already-legislated ECEC service standards around nutrition, sun protection and space requirements.…”

Perceived barriers and facilitators of childcare providers’ physical activity: A mixed-methods study

“…Most related previous qualitative research has focused on childcare provider’s barriers to facilitating children’s activity, not their own PA (Bruijns et al, 2020; Connelly et al, 2018; Snyder et al, 2019). Some barriers to children’s PA include academic demands, poor implementation of policies, limited social support, safety concerns, lack of community resources and unfavourable weather conditions (Boyle et al, 2022; Wenden et al, 2022). More research is needed to understand childcare providers’ beliefs about their own PA and the factors that influence their engagement in it (Brown et al, 2009; Bruijns et al, 2020).…”