ParticipACTION: Baseline assessment of the 'new ParticipACTION': A quantitative survey of Canadian organizational awareness and capacity

Abstract

BackgroundParticipACTION is a Canadian physical activity (PA) communications and social marketing organization that was relaunched in 2007 after a six-year hiatus. This study assesses the baseline awareness and capacity of Canadian organizations that promote physical activity, to adopt, implement and promote ParticipACTION's physical activity campaign. The three objectives were: (1) to determine organizational awareness of both the 'original' and 'new' ParticipACTION; (2) to report baseline levels of three organizational capacity domains (i.e., to adopt, implement and externally promote physical activity initiatives); and, (3) to explore potential differences in those domains based on organizational size, sector and primary mandate.MethodsOrganizations at local, provincial/territorial, and national levels were sent an invitation via email prior to the official launch of ParticipACTION to complete an on-line survey. The survey assessed their organization's capacity to adopt, implement and externally promote a new physical activity campaign within their organizational mandates. Descriptive statistics were employed to address the first two study objectives. A series of one-way analysis of variance were conducted to examine the third objective.ResultsThe response rate was 29.7% (268/902). The majority of responding organizations had over 40 employees and had operated for over 10 years. Education was the most common primary mandate, followed by sport and recreation. Organizations were evenly distributed between government and not-for-profits. Approximately 96% of respondents had heard of the 'original' ParticipACTION while 54.6% had heard of the 'new' ParticipACTION (Objective 1). Findings indicate good organizational capacity in Canada to promote physical activity (Objective 2) based on reported means of approximately 4.0 (on 5-point scales) for capacity to adopt, implement, and externally promote new physical activity campaigns. Capacity to adopt new physical activity campaigns differed by organizational sector and mandate, and capacity to implement differed by organizational mandate (Objective 3).ConclusionAt baseline, and without specific details of the campaign, respondents believe they have good capacity to work with ParticipACTION. ParticipACTION may do well to capitalize on the existing strong organizational capacity components of leadership, infrastructure and 'will' of national organizations to facilitate the success of its future campaigns.

ParticipACTION after 5 years of relaunch: a quantitative survey of Canadian organizational awareness and capacity regarding physical activity initiatives

“…Using an online survey, key Canadian informants (n=268; response rate 29.7%) representing provincial and national organizations from a range of sectors (e.g., sport, recreation, public health, education) reported on organiza tional awareness of ParticipACTION and their capacity for physical activity promo tion. 11 Findings indicated good organiza tional capacity in Canada to promote physical activity based on reported means of approximately 4.0 (on 5point scales ranging from 1 = "not at all" to 5 = "very") for capacity to adopt, implement, and pro mote physical activity campaigns. 11 Although no specific patterns were observed, some differences were found by sector and mandate.…”

“…11 Findings indicated good organiza tional capacity in Canada to promote physical activity based on reported means of approximately 4.0 (on 5point scales ranging from 1 = "not at all" to 5 = "very") for capacity to adopt, implement, and pro mote physical activity campaigns. 11 Although no specific patterns were observed, some differences were found by sector and mandate. For instance, organizations in the government sector reported greater capacity to adopt new campaigns com pared to notforprofit organizations.…”

“…10 It was expected that an organi zation's capacity in terms of its leadership, will and infrastructure should influence the extent to which the initiatives of ParticipACTION could be adopted and implemented within those organizations. 11 Baseline data collection took place before ParticipACTION began disseminating infor mation. Using an online survey, key Canadian informants (n=268; response rate 29.7%) representing provincial and national organizations from a range of sectors (e.g., sport, recreation, public health, education) reported on organiza tional awareness of ParticipACTION and their capacity for physical activity promo tion.…”

Exploring the impact of the ‘new’ ParticipACTION: overview and introduction of the special issue

“…It is well established that greater physical activity and lower sedentary behaviour are associated with a variety of positive health outcomes such as lowered risk for cardiometabolic disease and obesity, and improved skeletal and mental health, regardless of age, gender or ethnicity. 13 Nevertheless, only 15% of adults and 9% of children and youth are meeting current physical activity guidelines. 4,5 Further, adults are sedentary for about 9.5 hours per day, and children and youth for about 8.5 hours.…”

“…12 Baseline data were also collected at an organizational level to assess the future impact of a sus tained campaign through ParticipACTION on the overall capacity of the physical activity sector in Canada. 13,14 These data have been published in seven peer reviewed manuscripts with the majority presented in a special issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (see Tremblay & Craig 10 for an overview).…”