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Allison KR, Philipneri AN, Vu-Nguyen K, Manson HE, Dwyer JJM, Hobin E, Ng B, Li Y. School and classroom effects on Daily Physical Activity (DPA) policy implementation fidelity in Ontario classrooms: a multi-level analysis. BMC Public Health 2018; 18:802. [PMID: 29945575 PMCID: PMC6020426 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-018-5720-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2017] [Accepted: 06/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background This paper examines school and classroom effects on Daily Physical Activity (DPA) policy implementation in classrooms in Ontario, Canada. In 2005 the Ontario Ministry of Education mandated a policy requiring school boards to “ensure that all elementary students, including students with special needs, have a minimum of twenty minutes of sustained MVPA each school day during instructional time”. Based on an adaptation of Chaudoir’s conceptual framework, this paper contributes to understanding the extent to which school factors (as reported by administrators) and classroom factors (as reported by teachers) are associated with policy implementation fidelity at the classroom level. Methods Cross-sectional online surveys were conducted in 2014 with elementary school administrators and teachers, based on representative random samples of schools and classrooms. A measure assessing implementation fidelity was developed from the six required components of the policy and for this paper fidelity at the classroom level is treated as the outcome variable. Several school- and classroom-level measures were also included in the surveys and a number of these were selected for inclusion here. Data from the two surveys were merged and selected variables were included in the multi-level analysis. Two-level logistic regression models were conducted to account for nesting of classrooms within schools and a series of models were conducted to identify factors associated with implementation fidelity. Results The analytic sample for this study included 170 school administrators and 307 classroom teachers from corresponding schools. Findings from the multi-level logistic regression analyses indicated that only classroom/teacher-level factors were significantly associated with implementation fidelity at the classroom level. None of the school/administrator predictors were significantly related to fidelity. The most parsimonious model included five significant classroom/teacher predictors: teachers’ perception of DPA as realistic and achievable; confidence (self-efficacy); scheduling DPA in timetables; lack of space; and lack of time. Conclusions Findings from the study indicate the theoretical and practical importance of addressing classroom and teacher factors since they are most proximal to implementation fidelity to the policy. Several of these factors also reflect complex structural and organizational contexts, indicating that a systems approach to understanding and supporting DPA implementation fidelity is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth R Allison
- KR Allison Research Consulting, 575 Windermere Avenue, Toronto, ON, M6S 3L9, Canada.
| | - Anne N Philipneri
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada
| | - Karen Vu-Nguyen
- The Regional Municipality of York, 50 High Tech Road, Richmond Hill, ON, L4B 4N7, Canada
| | - Heather E Manson
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada
| | - John J M Dwyer
- Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Macdonald Institute Building, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Erin Hobin
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada
| | - Bessie Ng
- Peel Public Health, 7120 Hurontario Street, Mississauga, ON, L5W 1N4, Canada
| | - Ye Li
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada
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Allison KR, Vu-Nguyen K, Ng B, Schoueri-Mychasiw N, Dwyer JJM, Manson H, Hobin E, Manske S, Robertson J. Evaluation of Daily Physical Activity (DPA) policy implementation in Ontario: surveys of elementary school administrators and teachers. BMC Public Health 2016; 16:746. [PMID: 27502505 PMCID: PMC4977878 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3423-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2016] [Accepted: 07/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND School-based structured opportunities for physical activity can provide health-related benefits to children and youth, and contribute to international guidelines recommending 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day. In 2005, the Ministry of Education in Ontario, Canada, released the Daily Physical Activity (DPA) policy requiring school boards to "ensure that all elementary students, including students with special needs, have a minimum of twenty minutes of sustained MVPA each school day during instructional time". This paper reports on the first provincial study evaluating implementation fidelity to the DPA policy in Ontario elementary schools and classrooms. Using an adapted conceptual framework, the study also examined associations between implementation of DPA and a number of predictors in each of these respective settings. METHODS Separate cross-sectional online surveys were conducted in 2014 with Ontario elementary school administrators and classroom teachers, based on a representative random sample of schools and classrooms. An implementation fidelity score was developed based on six required components of the DPA policy. Other survey items measured potential predictors of implementation at the school and classroom levels. Descriptive analyses included frequency distributions of implementation fidelity and predictor variables. Bivariate analyses examining associations between implementation and predictors included binary logistic regression for school level data and generalized linear mixed models for classroom level data, in order to adjust for school-level clustering effects. RESULTS Among administrators, 61.4 % reported implementation fidelity to the policy at the school level, while 50.0 % of teachers reported fidelity at the classroom level. Several factors were found to be significantly associated with implementation fidelity in both school and classroom settings including: awareness of policy requirements; scheduling; monitoring; use of resources and supports; perception that the policy is realistic and achievable; and specific barriers to implementation. CONCLUSIONS Findings from the surveys indicate incomplete policy implementation and a number of factors significantly associated with implementation fidelity. The results indicate a number of important implications for policy, practice and further research, including the need for additional research to monitor implementation and its predictors, and assess the impacts of study recommendations and subsequent outcomes of a reinvigorated DPA moving forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth R Allison
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada.
| | - Karen Vu-Nguyen
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada
| | - Bessie Ng
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada
| | | | - John J M Dwyer
- Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Macdonald Institute Building, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, Canada, N1G 2W1
| | - Heather Manson
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada
| | - Erin Hobin
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada
| | - Steve Manske
- Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Jennifer Robertson
- Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada
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Raine KD, Nykiforuk CIJ, Vu-Nguyen K, Nieuwendyk LM, VanSpronsen E, Reed S, Wild TC. Understanding key influencers' attitudes and beliefs about healthy public policy change for obesity prevention. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2014; 22:2426-33. [PMID: 25131938 DOI: 10.1002/oby.20860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2014] [Accepted: 07/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE As overweight and obesity is a risk factor for chronic diseases, the development of environmental and healthy public policy interventions across multiple sectors has been identified as a key strategy to address this issue. METHODS In 2009, a survey was developed to assess the attitudes and beliefs regarding health promotion principles, and the priority and acceptability of policy actions to prevent obesity and chronic diseases, among key policy influencers in Alberta and Manitoba, Canada. Surveys were mailed to 1,765 key influencers from five settings: provincial government, municipal government, school boards, print media companies, and workplaces with greater than 500 employees. A total of 236 surveys were completed with a response rate of 15.0%. RESULTS Findings indicate nearly unanimous influencer support for individual-focused policy approaches and high support for some environmental policies. Restrictive environmental and economic policies received weakest support. Obesity was comparable to smoking with respect to perceptions as a societal responsibility versus a personal responsibility, boding well for the potential of environmental policy interventions for obesity prevention. CONCLUSIONS This level of influencer support provides a platform for more evidence to be brokered to policy influencers about the effectiveness of environmental policy approaches to obesity prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim D Raine
- Centre for Health Promotion Studies, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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