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326 Sustaining social marketing campaigns for physical activity – lessons from the ‘Find Thirty – it’s not a big exercise™’ campaign
Active Service Model: physical activity uptake, adherence and effects among home care clients
323
N. Chahine1,2*, M. Cameron2*, S. Selig2, P. Newton3, J. Macdonagh4 & J. Consedine5 Western Region Health Centre 2 Victoria University, School of Human Movement, Recreation & Performance 3 Shire of Melton 4 City of Brimbank 5 City of Maribyrnong
1
Three Victorian local government areas participated in a pilot study of regular physical activity as part of Home and Community Care (HACC) service delivery. Prior to data collection, 24 home care workers and 3 assessment officers participated in training to help them identify physical activity need among people receiving HACC. An accredited exercise physiologist was available throughout the project to oversee development and implementation of exercise / physical activity plans. Thirty people receiving HACC services volunteered to enter the study, and 20 participants returned questionnaires at 3 months. Participants completed the Transtheoretical Stages of Change Exercise Questionnaire (continuous measure), and the short-form Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) just prior to, and 3 months after, the commencement of physical activity. Per-protocol analysis of the 3 month data identified mean improvements on 6 of the 8 HAQ subscales, and in the overall HAQ score. Only one of these improvements was preserved at 6 months. Dependent t-tests showed none of these improvements to be statistically significant at an alpha level of 0.05, however, 3 month improvements on the daily activities subscale approached significance (p=0.066). Lack of statistical significance is likely a result of low power in a pilot study with a small sample. At either 3 or 6 months improvements in dressing and grooming, reach, hygiene, and daily activities subscales, and in the overall HAQ score, exceeded the minimum clinically important difference required to demonstrate improvement using this measure. These results suggest that regular physical activity affords clinically meaningful improvements in some areas of physical function required for independent living. Follow-up investigation is planned to explore reasons for withdrawal among the 10 people who did not complete the study.
The Premier’s be active Challenge - what’s the challenge?
324
M. Williams1* 1 Department Of Education And Children’s Services
What’s the challenge? It depends upon who you are! For children and young people it is being active, for enough time, with sufficient intensity and then recording it online. It is doing this for weeks on end and receiving recognition in the form of an award when the Challenge is completed. For teachers (and parents) it is promoting and coordinating the initiative and providing physical activity opportunities for students. For bureaucrats, the challenge is developing a meaningful initiative from an election commitment. It is to gather evidence of effectiveness and to translate that into something that will engage all participants. In the case of South Australia, the Premier’s be active Challenge faces significant challenges as a ‘start up’ project. It has potential to reach close to 200,000 students (Reception to Year 9) but first the Challenge must win the ‘hearts and minds’ of all participants! I will discuss the origins, the aims, the evidence to date and talk of what has been learned in a very short space of time. Like the South Australian Premier’s Reading Challenge, the Premier’s be active Challenge may well migrate across state borders. Come and hear what is happening in SA and how it might impact on you.
A Health Promotion Week: targeting change at the social level
325
C. Stirling1* 1 University Department Of Rural Health Tasmania
Introduction: The Get Walking Tasmania Week program (GWTW) is an annual event which has promoted walking in Tasmania for five years. The research project aimed to formalise the program logic and to assess the program impact. The mixed-method research strategy included document analysis, stakeholder consultation, interviews with coordinators and surveys of the participating organisations. Qualitative thematic analysis was used for qualitative data, and descriptive statistics and cross tabulations were applied to the quantitative data. The program logic that was developed as a first stage of the research process was used to guide the subsequent data collection. The study findings shed light on how GWTW effectively engages local organisations and facilitates them to deliver walking events. GWTW provides an opportunity for physical exercise champions and organisations with a physical exercise mandate to translate this motivation into walking events for the public. Coordinators felt that a key benefit of the events came from providing practical examples of how walking can be incorporated into regular activities. The findings also suggest GWTW provides important community building benefits by increasing networking and a ‘sense of belonging’ for local groups with a broader Tasmanian community. In conclusion the research findings suggest a new theoretical perspective on the role of the ‘Health Promotion WeeK’, that of facilitating change at a cultural and structural level, rather than purely awareness raising for the individual.
326
Sustaining social marketing campaigns for physical activity – lessons from the ‘Find Thirty – it’s not a big exercise™’ campaign T. Shilton1*, K. Kennington1 & C. Maitland1 1 National Heart Foundation (WA Division)
The aims of the Find thirty – it’s not a big exercise campaign are to increase awareness among adults of the type and frequency of physical activity necessary for good health and to demonstrate how moderate-intensity physical activity can be incorporated into the daily lives of people who are insufficiently active. The campaign was launched in Western Australia in 2002 by the Department of Health and is now being coordinated by the National Heart Foundation. The main strategy for the campaign has been television advertising supported by public relations and publications. Regular tracking between 2002 and 2006 has measured campaign awareness, understanding of the advertising, and attitudes and intentions in relation to physical activity. Key results include a high level of prompted awareness (76%) and positive changes in the number of respondents who had either done, or intended to think about the amount of physical activity they actually got, as a result of the campaign (62%). Despite using the same theme since 2002, the campaign maintained high relevance (84%). 41% of respondents had tried to increase their levels of physical activity as a result of the advertising and there had been growth in the number of minutes per week reported by those with insufficient levels of physical activity. The results support the conclusion that the campaign has had an impact on attitudes, intentions and behaviour in relation to physical activity. However results decay considerably when the campaign is off air, indicating that campaigns need to be sustained to be effective.
110
323
N. Chahine1,2*, M. Cameron2*, S. Selig2, P. Newton3, J. Macdonagh4 & J. Consedine5 Western Region Health Centre 2 Victoria University, School of Human Movement, Recreation & Performance 3 Shire of Melton 4 City of Brimbank 5 City of Maribyrnong
1
Three Victorian local government areas participated in a pilot study of regular physical activity as part of Home and Community Care (HACC) service delivery. Prior to data collection, 24 home care workers and 3 assessment officers participated in training to help them identify physical activity need among people receiving HACC. An accredited exercise physiologist was available throughout the project to oversee development and implementation of exercise / physical activity plans. Thirty people receiving HACC services volunteered to enter the study, and 20 participants returned questionnaires at 3 months. Participants completed the Transtheoretical Stages of Change Exercise Questionnaire (continuous measure), and the short-form Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) just prior to, and 3 months after, the commencement of physical activity. Per-protocol analysis of the 3 month data identified mean improvements on 6 of the 8 HAQ subscales, and in the overall HAQ score. Only one of these improvements was preserved at 6 months. Dependent t-tests showed none of these improvements to be statistically significant at an alpha level of 0.05, however, 3 month improvements on the daily activities subscale approached significance (p=0.066). Lack of statistical significance is likely a result of low power in a pilot study with a small sample. At either 3 or 6 months improvements in dressing and grooming, reach, hygiene, and daily activities subscales, and in the overall HAQ score, exceeded the minimum clinically important difference required to demonstrate improvement using this measure. These results suggest that regular physical activity affords clinically meaningful improvements in some areas of physical function required for independent living. Follow-up investigation is planned to explore reasons for withdrawal among the 10 people who did not complete the study.
The Premier’s be active Challenge - what’s the challenge?
324
M. Williams1* 1 Department Of Education And Children’s Services
What’s the challenge? It depends upon who you are! For children and young people it is being active, for enough time, with sufficient intensity and then recording it online. It is doing this for weeks on end and receiving recognition in the form of an award when the Challenge is completed. For teachers (and parents) it is promoting and coordinating the initiative and providing physical activity opportunities for students. For bureaucrats, the challenge is developing a meaningful initiative from an election commitment. It is to gather evidence of effectiveness and to translate that into something that will engage all participants. In the case of South Australia, the Premier’s be active Challenge faces significant challenges as a ‘start up’ project. It has potential to reach close to 200,000 students (Reception to Year 9) but first the Challenge must win the ‘hearts and minds’ of all participants! I will discuss the origins, the aims, the evidence to date and talk of what has been learned in a very short space of time. Like the South Australian Premier’s Reading Challenge, the Premier’s be active Challenge may well migrate across state borders. Come and hear what is happening in SA and how it might impact on you.
A Health Promotion Week: targeting change at the social level
325
C. Stirling1* 1 University Department Of Rural Health Tasmania
Introduction: The Get Walking Tasmania Week program (GWTW) is an annual event which has promoted walking in Tasmania for five years. The research project aimed to formalise the program logic and to assess the program impact. The mixed-method research strategy included document analysis, stakeholder consultation, interviews with coordinators and surveys of the participating organisations. Qualitative thematic analysis was used for qualitative data, and descriptive statistics and cross tabulations were applied to the quantitative data. The program logic that was developed as a first stage of the research process was used to guide the subsequent data collection. The study findings shed light on how GWTW effectively engages local organisations and facilitates them to deliver walking events. GWTW provides an opportunity for physical exercise champions and organisations with a physical exercise mandate to translate this motivation into walking events for the public. Coordinators felt that a key benefit of the events came from providing practical examples of how walking can be incorporated into regular activities. The findings also suggest GWTW provides important community building benefits by increasing networking and a ‘sense of belonging’ for local groups with a broader Tasmanian community. In conclusion the research findings suggest a new theoretical perspective on the role of the ‘Health Promotion WeeK’, that of facilitating change at a cultural and structural level, rather than purely awareness raising for the individual.
326
Sustaining social marketing campaigns for physical activity – lessons from the ‘Find Thirty – it’s not a big exercise™’ campaign T. Shilton1*, K. Kennington1 & C. Maitland1 1 National Heart Foundation (WA Division)
The aims of the Find thirty – it’s not a big exercise campaign are to increase awareness among adults of the type and frequency of physical activity necessary for good health and to demonstrate how moderate-intensity physical activity can be incorporated into the daily lives of people who are insufficiently active. The campaign was launched in Western Australia in 2002 by the Department of Health and is now being coordinated by the National Heart Foundation. The main strategy for the campaign has been television advertising supported by public relations and publications. Regular tracking between 2002 and 2006 has measured campaign awareness, understanding of the advertising, and attitudes and intentions in relation to physical activity. Key results include a high level of prompted awareness (76%) and positive changes in the number of respondents who had either done, or intended to think about the amount of physical activity they actually got, as a result of the campaign (62%). Despite using the same theme since 2002, the campaign maintained high relevance (84%). 41% of respondents had tried to increase their levels of physical activity as a result of the advertising and there had been growth in the number of minutes per week reported by those with insufficient levels of physical activity. The results support the conclusion that the campaign has had an impact on attitudes, intentions and behaviour in relation to physical activity. However results decay considerably when the campaign is off air, indicating that campaigns need to be sustained to be effective.
110