Research Objective 2

opportunities for new Canadian women and children to be physically active in the Greater Waterloo community

Purpose

To gain insight into the existing physical activity programs targeted towards New Canadian women and children in the Waterloo Region.

Method

  1. We collated a list of community groups, organizations, and newcomer services that might offer physical activity programming specific to new Canadians in the Waterloo Region. 
  2. We conducted web-based searches to find any programs provided by the aforementioned sources that matched our inclusion criteria.
  3. We gathered the programs that met our inclusion criteria and extracted publicly available information related to the details of the programs. 
  4.  We descriptively synthesized the program details and reflected on the state of the current physical activity programs for new Canadian women and children.

Inclusion Criteria

Programs that target new Canadian women and/or children

Programs that have a physical activity component

Search Information

We identified 120 potential organizations, groups, and/or sources that could offer programming to new canadians

We found 114 programs for new canadians in the Waterloo Region

13 of those programs had physical activity components

Results

All 13 programs were:

Group-based
Free
Facilitated

Program objectives :

Belongingness

Leadership

Improved health

Target populations:

Target groups:

Older Adults (n = 1)

Youth (n = 10)

Parents/adults (n = 2)

Target genders:

Women/girls (n = 2)

Men/boys (n = 2)

Any (n = 9)

Types of activities:

Physical Activity

Exercise classes, walking, yoga, swimming

Sports

Ping pong, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, badminton, cricket, dodgeball, soccer

Additional goals of the programs

A lot of programs had additional components besides physical activity related to fall prevention training, nutrition education, language development, police introduction, internet safety, and/or mental health promotion.

Program evaluation process

Eleven of the 13 programs underwent self-evaluation. Their outcomes of interest included:

  • Number of attendees
  • Sense of belonging
  • Social connections
  • Social engagement
  • Exercise/activity levels
  • Capacity for building connections and making new friends
  • Skill acquisition
  • Confidence

Researcher Reflections

1. Programs lack focus on new Canadian women

The majority of physical activity programs offered to new Canadians target youth. Although these programs meaningfully contribute to the Waterloo Community, creating spaces for new Canadian women to be physically active, especially spaces where they can feel comfortable and welcome, may aid in meeting the needs of women in the community outlined in research objective 1.

2. Lack of emphasis on social support and integration

Many programs incorporate several important health-related sub-themes into their programs (e.g., nutrition, fall prevention, mental wellness). However, according to our focus groups (see research objective 1) women reported wanting opportunities to socialize where they can develop relationships with other women in their community. As such, we think that integrating specific opportunities for socialization may be an important addition to a physical activity program for new Canadian women.

3. There is need for sustainable programming

Although there are some program options for new Canadians in the community, there is little information related to the sustainability of the programs. For example, the website for one program discussed how frequency of programming depended on availability of resources (e.g., space).There is a clear need to develop a program for women that is sustainable that can run without stoppage for years to come.

Previous
Next