RFA-DP-24-062, Physical Activity Policy Research and Evaluation Network

This application in response to Special Interest Project (SIP)-24-007 seeks to re-establish the Physical Activity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (PAPREN) at the Prevention Research Center at UMass Chan in collaboration with the University of Illinois Chicago and West Virginia University. We will further position PAPREN as the leading national research network committed to advancing implementation research designed to increase physical activity (PA) through community design interventions using cross sector and community engaged approaches. Community design interventions are recommended by the Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide), included in Healthy People 2030, and form the basis of the Physical Activity Priority Strategy of the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. Such interventions improve pedestrian and bicycle transportation and land use systems and often require policies (e.g., Complete Streets) and plans (e.g., Master Plans) that facilitate them. Despite evidence supporting their effectiveness, research gaps regarding effective strategies to support implementation of community design interventions remain. PAPREN will address these gaps. In Aim 1, we will develop, test and disseminate an equity-focused implementation strategy designed to foster cross-sector collaborations and community engagement that supports the implementation of the Community Guide’s community design recommendation. The project will include a implementation strategy that is a web-based, asynchronous training that focuses on the co-benefits (e.g., social connectedness, safety) and unintended consequences (e.g., displacement) of community design interventions that promote PA and prepares communities to engage in cross-sector collaborations tailored to community context. This project will be developed and usability tested in collaboration with long-standing local partners in Worcester, MA with residents who are low-income and/or racially and ethnically diverse. It will then be tested in a national sequential explanatory mixed methods implementation study. In Aim 2, we will grow and support a vibrant, multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral Network. We propose three areas of Network activities: (1) A strategic approach to enhance and expand the robust existing PAPREN multi-sectoral Network of researchers and practitioners; (2) Network- wide activities that provide opportunities for members to enhance their knowledge and skills and identify collaborative research opportunities; and (3) Two PAPREN Work Groups (Urban Community Design and Rural Community Design), each with 3 subgroups (transportation, land use planning, and parks and green space) that provide opportunities for researchers and practitioners to conduct collaborative implementation research. We will deploy a multi-component Dissemination and Translation Plan designed to ensure that PAPREN’s activities support the Network and that its research advances science and informs practice. We will also deploy a systematic Evaluation Plan guided by a PAPREN-specific adaptation of the CDC’s Evaluation and Scientific Impact Frameworks to monitor and improve the Network and identify successes and impact.