Exploring the use of research evidence in health-enhancing physical activity policies

Hämäläinen, Riitta-Maija; Aro, Arja R.; Goor, Ien van de; Lau, Cathrine Juel; Jakobsen, Mette Winge; Cherecheș, Răzvan Mircea; Syed, Mohamed Ahmed

doi:10.1186/s12961-015-0047-2

Cited by 21 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The policies of the European Union (EU) also strongly support grassroots and competitive sports [3], which are deeply intertwined with active lifestyles and represent an important opportunity to develop, transfer and/or implement regular PA practices [4], and to foster social inclusion, integration, and gender equality [5–8]. Unfortunately, the majority of European citizens do not engage in sufficient structured (e.g., physical exercise and sports) and/or unstructured (e.g., movements linked with daily life) PA, with a large proportion of children, adults, and older adults adopting inactive lifestyles [9–11]. To counteract the growing social and economic costs of lifestyle-related diseases, the European platform for action on diet, PA, and health aims to increase engagement in PA in the life course of citizens, to foster research for a better understanding of HEPA, and to boost and disseminate effective health policies for the promotion of environments and values supportive of an active lifestyle [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using concept mapping in the development of the EU-PAD framework (EUropean-Physical Activity Determinants across the life course): a DEDIPAC-study

et al. 2016

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BackgroundA large proportion of European children, adults and older adults do not engage in sufficient physical activity (PA). Understanding individual and contextual factors associated with PA behaviours is essential for the identification and implementation of effective preventative environments, policies, and programmes that can promote an active lifestyle across life course and can potentially improve health. The current paper intends to provide 1) a multi-disciplinary, Pan-European and life course view of key determinants of PA behaviours and 2) a proposal of how these factors may cluster.MethodsAfter gathering a list of 183 potential PA behaviours-associated factors and a consensus meeting to unify/consolidate terminology, a concept mapping software was used to collate European experts’ views of 106 identified factors for youth (<19 years), adults (19–64 years), and older adults (≥65 years). The analysis evaluated common trends in the clustering of factors and the ratings of the distinct factors’ expected modifiability and population-level impact on PA behaviours across the life course. Priority for research was also assessed for each cluster.ResultsThe concept mapping resulted in six distinct clusters, broadly merged in two themes: 1) the ‘Person’, which included clusters ‘Intra-Personal Context and Wellbeing’ and ‘Family and Social Economic Status’ (42 % of all factors) and 2) the ‘Society’, which included the remaining four clusters ‘Policy and Provision’, ‘Cultural Context and Media’, ‘Social Support and Modelling’, and ‘Supportive Environment’ (58 % of all factors). Overall, 25 factors were rated as the most impactful on PA behaviours across the life course and being the most modifiable. They were mostly situated in the ‘Intra-Personal Context and Wellbeing’ cluster. Furthermore, 16 of them were rated as top priority for research.ConclusionsThe current framework provides a preliminary overview of factors which may account for PA behaviour across the life course and are most relevant to the European community. These insights could potentially be a foundation for future Pan-European research on how these factors might interact with each other, and assist policy makers to identify appropriate interventions to maximize PA behaviours and thus the health of European citizens.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using concept mapping in the development of the EU-PAD framework (EUropean-Physical Activity Determinants across the life course): a DEDIPAC-study

et al. 2016

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“…This study was conducted as part of the ‘Research into Policy to enhance Physical Activity (REPOPA) project within the European Commission’s FP7 funding framework [22, 23]. The study aimed to gain an insight into the consideration of equality and equity issues and of vulnerable groups in selected PA policies.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This involved identifying and selecting individuals who were especially knowledgeable about or experienced with PA policy making within the policies included in the analysis [23–25]. A total of 61 stakeholders were interviewed (Denmark 17; Romania 11; England 12; and Finland 15 stakeholders).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consent forms were administered in national languages of the partner countries. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken to further explore the equity and equality issues in PA policies, using a common interview guide across all participating countries [23]. The interviews were conducted by researchers from the respective countries in their native language.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An evaluation of equity and equality in physical activity policies in four European countries

Hämäläinen

Sandu

Syed

et al. 2016

Int J Equity Health

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BackgroundThere is strong research evidence on the importance of health equity and equality for wellbeing in societies. As chronic non-communicable diseases are widespread, the positive impact of physical activity (PA) on health has gained importance. However, PA at the population level is far from optimal. PA depends not only on individual factors, but also on policies for PA in sport, health, transport, education and other sectors, on social and cultural factors, and on the environment. Addressing health inequalities and inequities in PA promotion policies could benefit from policy development processes based on partnership and collaboration between various sectors, researchers, practitioners and policy makers (= cross-sectoral, evidence-informed policy making). The objective of this article is to describe how equity and equality was addressed in PA policies in four EU member states (Denmark, Finland, Romania and England), who were partners in the REPOPA project (www.repopa.eu, EC/FP7/Health Research/GA 281532).MethodsContent analysis of 14 PA policies and 61 interviews were undertaken between 2012 and 2013 with stakeholders involved in developing PA policies in partner countries.ResultsEven though specific population subgroups were mentioned in the policy documents analysed, they were not necessarily defined as vulnerable populations nor was there a mention of additional emphasis to support such groups from being marginalised by the policy due to inequity or inequality. There were no clear objectives and activities in the analysed policies suggesting commitment of additional resources in favour of such groups. Addressing equity and equality were often not included in the core aims of the policies analysed; these aspects were mentioned in the background of the policy documents analysed, without being explicitly stated in the aims or activities of the policies. In order to tackle health inequities and inequalities and their consequences on the health status of different population subgroups, a more instrumental approach to health equality and equity in PA promotion policies is needed. Policies should include aims to address health inequalities and inequities as fundamental objectives and also consider opportunities to allocate resources to reduce them for identified groups in this regard: the socially excluded, the remote, and the poor.ConclusionsThe inclusion of aspects related to health inequalities and inequities in PA policies needs monitoring, evaluation and transparent accountability if we are to see the best gains in health of socially disadvantaged group. To tackle health inequities and inequalities governance structures need to take into consideration proportionate universalism. Thus, to achieve change in the social determinants of health, policy makers should pay attention to PA and proportionally invest for universal access to PA services. PA promotion advocates should develop a deeper awareness of political and policy structures and require more equity and equality in PA policies from those who they ...

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“…In the REPOPA project, use of research and other kinds of evidence in 21 physical activity policies in six European countries was analyzed and 86 policy stakeholders were interviewed to find facilitators and barriers for research evidence use in policymaking [5][6][7].…”

Section: Research To Enhance Evidence-informed Policymakingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Evidence-Informed Policymaking in Physical Activity

Aro¹

2016

J Prev Med

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There is strong evidence for physical activity enhancing health; also prominent calls were presented in the recent Lancet Series for Physical Activity to build policies and supporting daily living environment to sustain physical activity [1]. Papers also in this journal deal with interventions to increase physical activity [2,3].Even when we do have accumulating research evidence on contextual factors being important to physical activity, it has proved difficult to integrate research evidence with real-life policymaking. One reason for this is that compared to clinical field mostly dealing with individuals, in policymaking, research evidence is seldom the driving force; instead, 'other kinds of evidence' such as local population characteristics, local values, priorities, and resources play an important role [4]. Applying research evidence to enhance physical activity in policies e.g. building a bicycle lane in a city needs to happen in collaboration and on equal footing between research producers and policy stakeholders. This kind of collaborative policymaking is called evidence-informed instead of evidence-based, meaning that research evidence only informs policymaking. Research to enhance evidence-informed policymakingThere is very little research evidence to show how best to develop policies in the evidence-informed way. A seven country (Denmark, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, Romania, UK; Canada as evaluator) project Research into Policy to enhance physical activity (REPOPA; www.repopa.eu (European Commission grant No 281532; 2011-2016 took this challenge to study how best to integrate research evidence into real-life policymaking in the evidence-informed way [5].In the REPOPA project, use of research and other kinds of evidence in 21 physical activity policies in six European countries was analyzed and 86 policy stakeholders were interviewed to find facilitators and barriers for research evidence use in policymaking [5][6][7].Building on the findings, two sets of interventions, both implemented in three countries, were developed. One set used policy gaming with 18-19 researchers and policymakers in each of the three games to increase inter-sectoral collaboration in locally salient physical activity policymaking scenarios; these interventions increased understanding of how to strengthen the evidence-informed policymaking especially in cross-sector collaboration [8]. The other set of interventions aimed at increasing evidence-informed policymaking in six stewardship and needs-based locally tailored interventions (n = 74 stakeholders) on physical activity policymaking [9]. These interventions increased taking into account research knowledge, priorities and values of policy target groups in policy development. The preliminary intervention results have been reported to the REPOPA funder (see www.repopa.eu for Deliverables D2.2., D 3.2.; manuscripts are in preparation).Further, based on the project results, an international tworound Delphi (n = 76 and 72 participants respectively) and six national conferences ...

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Exploring the use of research evidence in health-enhancing physical activity policies

Cited by 21 publications

References 40 publications

Using concept mapping in the development of the EU-PAD framework (EUropean-Physical Activity Determinants across the life course): a DEDIPAC-study

Using concept mapping in the development of the EU-PAD framework (EUropean-Physical Activity Determinants across the life course): a DEDIPAC-study

An evaluation of equity and equality in physical activity policies in four European countries

Towards Evidence-Informed Policymaking in Physical Activity

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