research Objective 3
Early reflections on the development and implementation of a physical activity program for new canadian women
Why a physical activity program for new Canadian women?
In 2016, the Waterloo Region in Ontario, Canada had the 8th highest proportions of newcomers in Canada (22.6% of the region’s population; Waterloo Region Immigration Profile, 2019).
New immigrant women indicated having lower overall health in comparison to Canadian born women (Bushnik, 2016), and may experience settlement difficulties as a result of a lack of social support (Ramos Salas et al., 2016).
Physical activity programs and the social opportunities they bring may be beneficial to new Canadian women experiencing poor health and social isolation
The results of our focus groups (i.e., research objective 1) and community scan (i.e., research objective 2) revealed that there is a lack of physical activity programs in the Waterloo Region designed specifically for female newcomers, and that these individuals face a number of barriers to participate in regular physical activity. To address these issues, as well as to promote social integration, the ACTIVEIntegration partnership designed and implemented an evidence-basd physical activity program.
Program Details
We created and implemented a free 8-week, in-person program held in a community centre in Kitchener.
- Weekly 1.5 hour sessions.
- 1 hour of physical activity, followed by 30 mins of social time.
- Physical activity component focused on introducing participants to various forms of exercise (e.g., yoga, functional fitness exercises, sports).
- Water, tea, and coffee were offered during social time.
- Free childcare provided during the program
Program Strengths and Challenges
Challenges:
- The opportunities to promote the program were shortened due to its quick launch following the provincial lockdown lifting.
- In-person and phone registration may have been difficult for women with lower English skills.
- COVID-19 screening and vaccination requirements were barriers to participants
Strengths:
- The resources and support provided by the ACTIVEIntegration Partnership (e.g., facilities, childcare) were critical for the successful implementation of the program.
- Simple instruction and adaptability of instructors to fit the needs and preferences of the participants kept people interested in the program.
Future Considerations
There is a need to develop community connections to assist in advertising, promotion, and registration efforts.
It would be beneficial to invest in additional equipment and guest instruction to expand activity options.
We want to increase the accessibility of the program to make it more welcoming to recent immigrants.
Want to know more?
We presented the results from our program evaluation at the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology’s 2023 conference!
The poster outlining the details of our evaluation process can be viewed below:
