Journal ArticleDOI
System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC): Reliability and Feasibility Measures
TLDR
SOPARC is a reliable and feasible instrument for assessing physical activity and associated contextual data in community settings and met acceptable criteria for area contexts.Abstract:
Background: New tools are needed to examine physical activity and the contexts in which it occurs. Community parks contribute to physical activity, but measuring activity and associated variables in them is challenging because area contexts change and the numbers and characteristics of users are highly variable. Methods: We developed SOPARC (System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities) and tested its use by observing 16,244 individuals in 165 park areas. Reliabilities included 472 simultaneous measures by independent observers. Results: Correlations between observers on number of area participants was 0.99 for female and male park users. Reliabilities (i.e., percent agreement) for age (89%, females; 85%, males), race/ethnic (80%, females; 82%, males), and activity level (80%, females; 88%, males) groupings met acceptable criteria. Reliabilities for area contexts (i.e., usable, accessible, supervised, organized, equipped) exceeded 94%. Conclusions: SOPARC is a reliable and feasible instrument for assessing physical activity and associated contextual data in community settings.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Visitation and Physical Activity Intensity at Rural and Urban Parks
TL;DR: This study compared park visitation and activity intensity at 15 urban and 15 rural parks matched for acreage and amenities to determine number of visitors, activity intensity, and amenity use.
Journal ArticleDOI
Gender Differences in Physical Activity Associated with Urban Neighborhood Parks: Findings from the National Study of Neighborhood Parks.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared factors associated with active commuting to parks among men and women and park characteristics associated with observed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) within neighborhood parks.
Journal ArticleDOI
Whose park? Crowdsourcing citizen's urban green space preferences to inform needs-based management decisions
TL;DR: It is shown that if inadequate measures are used in smart city developments, subjective values and specific user groups will continue to be overlooked in planning processes, and the dedicated mobile app combined with observed use helped to identify priority locations for improvement.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of park-based interventions on health-related outcomes: A systematic review
TL;DR: In this article, a systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of park-based interventions among adults, and the primary outcomes of interest were health-related, including physical and mental health and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Assessing the contribution of informal sport to leisure-time physical activity: a new perspective on social innovation
TL;DR: Most social innovation research within health-oriented SDP initiatives has focused on improvements to structured program contexts, with less attention to informal sport as discussed by the authors, which is not the focus of our work.
References
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Environmental and policy interventions to promote physical activity
TL;DR: In this article, a model describing the development of policy and environmental interventions is proposed, in the hope of stimulating more research in this area, and two studies showed that placing signs encouraging stair use can be effective.
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TL;DR: A conceptual model is proposed to guide thinking and suggest hypotheses about the relationships between park benefits, park use, and physical activity, and the antecedents/correlates of park use that focus on park environmental characteristics that could be related to physical activity.