Staff training and adapted physical activity

Research title: Optimizing staff training to improve adapted physical activity service provision for two community organizations: Co-construction and implementation evaluation.

The community partners, Viomax and Adaptavie, have identified a need to optimize training of their staff to support the accessibility of their programming. The goal of this project is to co-create and implement training resources for staff at Viomax and Adaptavie. The training resources will be grounded in adapted physical activity, person-centered interpersonal communication (e.g., motivational interviewing), and behaviour change (e.g., goal setting, action planning). A working group will be established to co-create the resources. The training resources will be evaluated using a mixed-method quasi-experimental design. Participants will (a) complete questionnaires pre- and post-training, (b) apply their skills on a mock client to be evaluated by two independent coders, and (c) participate in an interview. As a result of this project, community partners will have access to evidence-based training resources that will create a highly qualified workforce aimed to increase accessibility of physical activity opportunities for people with disabilities.

Goals

1. Training resources. Six bilingual training modules and three workbooks will be created. These resources will equip community organizations with materials to facilitate the integration and training of existing and new staff. These resources will serve as the basis for local and broad-based appropriation.
2. Qualified workplaces. The participants in our study will receive evidence-based training for personcentred adapted PA service delivery. Therefore, our two community partners, Viomax and Adaptavie, will benefit by having highly qualified staff delivering adapted PA services.
3. Graduate student training. This project will immerse two students into partnership and integrated knowledge translation research that will be valuable for their careers in health and social science research. They will acquire proficiencies in co-creation and implementation evaluation to learn how to conduct research according to partner needs (i.e., improve training) to improve social inclusion of people with disabilities (i.e., improved PA experiences).

Milestones

1. Training resources development & Working Group Meeting #1
2. Training resources refinement & Working Group Meeting #2
3. Training resources implementation decisions and Working Group Meeting #3
4. Evaluation of training resources
5. Working Group Meeting #4: Evaluation interpretation
6. Knowledge dissemination

Knowledge dissemination

(1) Training resources. 9 bilingual training modules have been created. These resources provide community organizations with materials to facilitate the integration and training of existing and new staff. These resources serve as the basis for local and broader ownership (in connection with the new grant we received from Société Inclusive).

(2) Qualified workplaces. Participants in this study received evidence-based training in the delivery of adapted, person-centered PA services. As a result, both community partners, Viomax and Adaptavie, benefited from highly qualified staff for the delivery of adapted PA services.

(3) Graduate student training. This project introduced three graduate students to partnerships and integrated knowledge translation research, which will serve them well in their careers in health and social science research. They gained skills in co-creation and implementation evaluation to learn how to conduct research based on partners’ needs (i.e. improving training) to improve the social inclusion of people with disabilities (i.e. improving PA experiences). One student completed her master’s project in connection with this project.

4) Infographics and fact sheets. Infographics and fact sheets on the results of this project are currently being created. These user-friendly summaries of the research can be used by Viomax and Adaptavie to share with their customers and kinesiologists, and can be used in funding applications to further support their programs. They also make research more accessible to non-researchers, thereby increasing social impact.

Updated: February 21, 2024