Physical activity interventions to promote positive youth development among indigenous youth: a RE-AIM review

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) programs are a promising strategy to promote positive youth development (PYD). It is not known if published reports provide sufficient information to promote the implementation of effective PYD in indigenous youth. The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which published literature on PA programs that promote PYD in indigenous youth report on RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) indicators. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify articles reporting on PA programs that promote PYD in indigenous youth. The search yielded 8084 articles. A validated 21-item RE-AIM abstraction tool assessing internal and external validity factors was used to extract data from 10 articles meeting eligibility criteria. The most commonly reported dimensions were effectiveness (73 %), adoption (48 %), and maintenance (43 %). Reach (34 %) and implementation (30 %) were less often reported. Published research provides insufficient information to inform real-world implementation of PA programs to promote PYD in indigenous youth.

Indigenous Youth Development through Sport and Physical Activity: Sharing Voices, Stories, and Experiences

“…For Indigenous youth, low contact sports may be an alternative that is supportive of participation across ages, genders, and abilities (Ruhanen & Whitford, 2011). More inclusive physical activity and sport opportunities may be especially important in rural and remote communities where programming sustainability is dependent upon increasing the number of youth involved (Baillie et al, 2016).…”

“…Indigenous youth also recognized that limited access to physical activity and sport opportunities acted as a barrier. For some Indigenous youth, place of residence was a significant barrier, whether opportunities were limited because of the rural or remote location of the community (Baillie et al, 2016;Byrnes et al, 2015) or the socioeconomic status of the urban neighbourhood they resided in (Kerpan & Humbert, 2015). Even when opportunities were physically accessible, access to transportation and the cost of the activity were commonly mentioned communitylevel barriers.…”

“…Similarly, other studies have identified peers and family (Schinke et al, 2010), coaches (Blodgett et al, 2008), and the community (McHugh, 2011;McHugh, Coppola, Holt & Anderson, 2015) as common sources of support for physical activity and sport. Notably, youth did not mention the role that ancestors and animals play in supporting physical activity and sport particular (Adams et al, 2015;Baillie et al, 2016). Types of support included examples of four dimensions of social support as outlined by Wills and Shinar (2000) including emotional support (confidence, security, feeling loved and cared for), esteem support (support for competence, self-esteem), informational support (receiving advice, guidance), and instrumental or tangible support (practical assistance and resources such as rides, financial support and equipment).…”

“…Sharing circles were conducted with youth to gather their experiences and stories in a comfortable group setting (McHugh et al, 2013). Sharing circles have previously been used in sport and physical activity research with Indigenous peoples (Baillie et al, 2016;Blodgett et al, 2010;McHugh et al, 2013;Schinke et al, 2010). While similar to focus groups, sharing circles also hold sacred meaning among many Indigenous cultures (Lavallée, 2009).…”

Physical activity promotion and translational research

“…RE-AIM is intended to improve the balance between internal and external validity when developing interventions and to inform typical community and clinical organizations on the potential applicability of a given study and intervention to local settings and populations. Baillie and colleagues' summary of literature on physical activity promotion as a tool for positive youth development demonstrated that low reporting across RE-AIM dimensions makes it difficult to understand the potential generalizability of these interventions to underserved indigenous populations in Canada [16]. The use of RE-AIM also demonstrates the complexity of translational physical activity research where research can be focused on intervening at any one level of RE-AIM while assessing other dimensions as secondary outcomes.…”