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Regular physical activity supports children's physical and psychological health and wellbeing, and provides opportunities to build social and emotional skills such as resilience, confidence, and self-efficacy. Research has demonstrated that mass participant sporting events can serve as important social and environmental correlates of physical activity. This study sought to explore parents and children's perceived motivations and perspectives of participation in the Australian Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon (a non-competitive triathlon series), on children's health and well-being. An exploratory qualitative design utilizing seven focus groups were conducted with 27 family units including 31 parents and 61 children (age 7–15 years old). Data were recorded, professionally transcribed and then analyzed using thematic analysis. Three overarching themes were identified, including (1) motivations for event and physical activity participation , revealing social interaction, peer support and friendly competition as motivators for participation as well as parents' interest in supporting the development of healthy habits; (2) Perceived physical activity, fitness, and developmental benefits , detailing changes to the types of physical activity children performed as well as opportunities for children to develop physical skills and competencies; and (3) Perceived psychosocial benefits of participation , highlighting opportunities for children to develop and demonstrate independence and autonomy through event participation. Notably, parents and children identified benefits beyond immediate participation including increased family engagement and social support. Mass participant events hold the potential to elicit a range of benefits for children and their families; however, further efforts may be needed to engage less active or disengaged families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translating evidence-based interventions into community practice is vital to health promotion. This study used the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the larger dissemination of the ManUp intervention, an intervention which utilized interactive web-based technologies to improve the physical activity and nutrition behaviors of residents in Central Queensland, Australia. Data were collected for each RE-AIM measure (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) using (i) computer-assisted telephone interview survey (N=312) with adults (18years and over) from Central Queensland, (ii) interviews with key stakeholders from local organizations (n= 12) and (iii) examination of project-related statistics and findings. In terms of Reach, 47% of participants were aware of the intervention; Effectiveness, there were no significant differences between physical activity and healthy nutrition levels in those aware and unaware; Adoption, 73 participants registered for the intervention and 25% of organizations adopted some part of the intervention; Implementation, 26% of participants initially logged onto the website, 29 and 17% started the web-based physical activity and nutrition challenges, 33% of organizations implemented the intervention, 42% considered implementation and 25% reported difficulties; Maintenance, an average of 0.57 logins and 1.35 entries per week during the 12 week dissemination and 0.27 logins and 0.63 entries per week during the 9-month follow-up were achieved, 22 and 0% of participants completed the web-based physical activity and nutrition challenges and 33.3% of organizations intended to continue utilizing components of the intervention. While this intervention demonstrated good reach, effectiveness, adoption and implementation warrant further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Despite progression in the ethical and methodological conduct of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research, disparities still pervade, indicating limitations in knowledge translation. One identified gap is a lack of documented experiences detailing how ethical guidelines may be practically applied. This paper aims to (i) describe the research processes involved in co-designing a physical activity and psychosocial health program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls and (ii) highlight learnings of the collaborative research journey. The Criteria for Strengthening Reporting of Health Research involving Indigenous Peoples (CONSIDER) statement was used to document participatory research activities undertaken with an Aboriginal community partner. Building upon the CONSIDER statement, Aboriginal (N = 3), Torres Strait Islander (N = 1) and non-Indigenous (N = 4) research team members engaged in critical reflection to identify lessons learnt. Researchers identified a tension between participatory research principles and the expectations of funding agencies and research institutions. Consequently, timelines must be flexible to foster meaningful community engagement and participatory processes. Additionally, researchers and community stakeholders are encouraged to embrace tensions that may associated with participatory research or the pressures Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers face from their community and organization. Furthermore, differences in professional (i.e. occupational) and cultural knowledge systems need to be acknowledged and accounted for within the early stages of a project to ensure informed decision-making. Identified lessons will assist relevant stakeholders in the development of future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health programming, ensuring the most appropriate health solutions are devised with community. Lay Summary: The ethical and methodological quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research and associated community engagement has progressed significantly in the last thirty years. Despite this progress, improvements in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health disparities have been slow and inconsistent, indicating there are limitations in the available information for health promotion stakeholders. One identified gap is a lack of documented experiences detailing how guidelines may be practically applied. This paper, therefore, details how an intercultural, intersectoral team engaged in a participatory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research project (i.e. Tidda Talk). In addition to documenting research processes, the paper also offers lessons learnt: (i) Prioritize a flexible response within the project plan, (ii) Embrace Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community empowerment whilst working at the cultural interface (i.e. a place of knowledge exchange between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Western culture, resulting in two-way learning) (iii) Plan to navigate different knowledge systems, (iv) Acknowledge the pressures and demands placed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers. These documented experiences and lessons learnt have the potential to benefit researchers and practitioners in future health service design and evaluation, allowing for culturally appropriate practices to be identified and replicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical activity (PA) levels among adolescent girls continue to steadily decline, especially for those classified as 'at-risk'. To mitigate these trends, Girls United and on the Move (GUM) was created as a dual-component PA and psychosocial program. The primary purpose of this study was to explore participant experiences within GUM, with a secondary purpose of qualitatively informing future PA programs for 'at-risk' adolescent girls. Semi-structured interviews (N = 30) were conducted with a purposeful sample of girls from the GUM program. An inductive thematic analysis was utilized to analyze verbatim transcripts. Two themes were generated from the data: 1) Girls uplifting girls, outlining the importance of a girls-only environment and introducing opportunities for alternative PAs, and 2) finding balance between the physical and psychological, detailing the importance of the dual-component program. These findings provide support for the acceptability of an integrated psychosocial and PA program for at-risk adolescent girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging men in mental health promotion can be difficult because of reticence about help-seeking, especially for gender neutral programmes. Developments in men's health research has pointed to the success of gender-sensitized programmes to increase men's engagement in healthy lifestyle interventions targeting physical activity and healthy eating; however, less is known about the impact of these interventions on men's mental health. This study explored changes to men's depression risk and health-related quality of life at post-intervention (12 weeks) and 9-month follow-up, after participating in HAT TRICK, a gender-sensitized lifestyle intervention for overweight men. Participants completed validated self-report measures of mental health at baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks) and 9-month follow-up. Men's scores on the Male Depression Risk Scale (MDRS) and the SF-12 questionnaire, including physical health (PH12) and mental health (MH12) composite scores, were analyzed using mixed linear models to assess linear trends. At baseline, men (N  = 62) had a mean age of 50.98 (SD = 10.09) years and BMI of 35.87 (SD = 5.51) kg/m2. Results show that both the MDRS and the MH12 showed improvements in participants' mental health, with significant linear trends (p = 0.003; p = 0.003) qualified with significant quadratic trends over time (p = 0.02; p = 0.03). There were no significant changes in the PH12 over time. Gender-sensitized programmes for overweight men, such as HAT TRICK, are a promising approach to positively influence components of men's mental health, with the potential for sustained improvements over the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-standing commentaries about men's reticence for accessing clinical medical services, along with the more recent recognition of men's health inequities, has driven work in community-based men's health promotion. Indeed, the 2000s have seen rapid growth in community-based programs targeting men, and across this expanse of innovative work, experiential and empirical insights afford some important lessons learnt, and caveats to guide existing and future efforts. The current article offers eight lessons learnt regarding the design, content, recruitment, delivery, evaluation and scaling of community-based men's health promotion programs. Design lessons include the need to address social determinants of health and men's health inequities, build activity-based programming, garner men's permission and affirmation to shift masculine norms, and integrate content to advance men's health literacy. Also detailed are lessons learnt about men-friendly spaces, recruitment and retention strategies, the need to incrementally execute program evaluations, and the limits for program sustainability and scaling. Drawing from diverse community-based programs to illustrate the lessons learnt, caveats are also detailed to contextualize and caution some aspects of the lessons that are shared. The express aim of discussing lessons learnt and their caveats, reflected in the purpose of the current article, is to guide existing and future work in the ever growing field of community-based men's health promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]