Recreation’s Role in Active Living
The recreation sector is essential in encouraging and promoting active living behaviours. As part of our goal to support overall community health and wellness, active living behaviours are crucial in getting the highest benefit from healthy eating(1). As a sector, we can support active living through the following:
- Spaces, facilities and staff to house and run recreational and sporting programming and interventions
- Increasing access to recreational opportunities through park and green spaces
- Promoting and modelling an active lifestyle
How to Build an Active Living Program
4 Stages to Developing a Successful Program
As mentioned in the 4 Stages to Developing a Successful Program, regardless of the size, scope or goal, successful high-quality, or evidenced-based community programs and programmers should consider(3,4) the following questions:
- How will they build long-term sustainability?
- How will the program be culturally relevant and appropriate?
- How will the program build on equity, diversity, and inclusion principles?
- How will the program work towards the community’s larger vision of health and wellness?
- How will the program be initiated, developed, implemented, and supported by their community members or target population?
- How will promising or best practices inform their program?
- How will the program respect the communities autonomy, dignity and self-determination?
- How does the program acknowledge the complexities and environmental factors that contribute to a person’s lived experience?
- Does the program incorporate collaboration across organizations, sectors and communities to make large-scale change?
- Is the program grounded in a strength-based approach?
High-quality, active living programs incorporate these elements into their planning, delivery and evaluation. This section focuses on the level and types of active living programming interventions your community can pursue.
Step 1: Check-in
Start by referring back to your community’s asset map and review the community’s goals and priorities. The community’s vision and assets should guide both(5):
- Who: The target audience of the program
- What: The type of intervention needed to achieve the community’s goals
Key Considerations
When in doubt of who your program should target and what the program should do for your community, ask!
Send out a survey or feedback form and invite the community to participate in the planning, implementation and evaluation process. The more opportunities for community members to be active participants throughout program planning and implementation, the higher buy-in and support the program will have. Remember, people are the experts of their own experiences. They know what is needed and what will work best.
Step 2: Prioritize Your Focus
Use the information below in combination with your community asset map and goal setting to determine what type of healthy eating program to develop (Individual vs. Community):
Targets: Individuals or families
Impacts:
- Builds childhood physical literacy (the development of necessary skills, confidence and passion for movement to be physically active for life)(5)
- Increases exposure to different recreational activities and sports
- Creates positive experiences of participating in and mastering recreational activities and sports(6)
- Builds community belonging through play and opportunities to connect with others(6)
- Increases knowledge and awareness of the importance of being physically active for life
- Increases cultural competency and safety training skills to best support everyone in the community
Targets: Communities or groups of people organized by demographics or geography.
Impacts:
- Increases access to recreational, exercise and sporting opportunities
- Reduces barriers to participating in active living behaviours
These interventions usually occur at a policy-maker or leadership level. Community members advocate for and partner with community leaders to make these changes.
Active Living Program Interventions
The third step for building an active living program focuses on interventions that can be applied at either an individual or community level, and are both evidence-based. Ready to start creating and planning a healthy eating program? Follow along below!
Step 3: Take Action!
A) Individual-level Active Living Interventions
Read below for examples of individual-level active living interventions that are based on promising and best practices! Combine, adjust or revise these types of programs to best suit your community.
Establish sports and recreational training programs that introduce individuals to activities and build their skills and confidence in participating or performing the activity (i.e. traditional hunting programs).
- Builds physical literacy
- Increases exposure to different recreational activities and sports
- Creates positive experiences of participation and mastery
- Builds community belonging
- Increases knowledge and awareness of the importance of being physically active for life
Provide various instructor-led classes, physical activity programs and drop-in facility hours that allow community members to be physically active. (i.e. yoga classes, drop-in basketball, public walking tracks, online fitness classes etc.) Offer a diversity of activities enabling people of all ages, physical and mental abilities, skill levels, sexes, cultures, and economic statuses to participate(7).
- Builds physical literacy
- Increases exposure to different recreational activities and sports
- Creates positive experiences of participation and mastery
- Builds community belonging
- Increases knowledge and awareness of the importance of being physically active for life
Work with the community to establish leagues for a variety of sports. Ensure that there are entry points at different ability and age levels.
- Builds physical literacy
- Increases exposure to different recreational activities and sports
- Creates positive experiences of participation and mastery
- Builds community belonging
Work with community organizations and associations to provide Professional Development for staff to keep them up-to-date on cultural and safety best practices.
- Increases cultural competency and safety training skills to best support everyone in the community
Check out these organizations for resources to support recreation and sports programs and staff training guidance:
What is Physical Literacy?
Physical Literacy is the development of necessary skills, confidence and passion for movement to be physically active for life(5). Check out Active for Life for more information on physical literacy.
B) Community-level Active Living Interventions
Community-level programs focus on the systems and environments we live in, impacting many more people in our communities. This larger impact means implementing community-level programs requires a great deal of time, planning, and buy-in from local governments and stakeholders.
This section aims to inspire you in how you initiate action to improve access to and the ability for citizens to be active daily.
Read below for examples of community-level active living interventions that are based on promising and best practices! Combine, adjust or revise these types of programs to best suit your community.
Partner with the municipality or relevant stakeholders to provide low-cost recreational activities to the community (8). Enhance your program by incorporating accessibility policy.
- Removes barriers to participation
Partner with community organizations and champions to provide childcare at recreational facilities or during adult physical activity programming to support adults in being physically active (8).
- Removes barriers to participation
Work with the municipality and other stakeholders to purchase outdoor exercise equipment, such as pull-up bars for public green spaces.
- Increases access to physical activity opportunities
- Removes barriers to participation
Partner with the local library, recreational facility or community centre to create an equipment loan program that allows residents to check out or rent recreational equipment such as snowshoes, cross-country skis, bike locks, lawn activity games, etc.
- Increases access to physical activity opportunities
- Removes barriers to participation
Plan a community marathon, walking, biking or cultural event (i.e. Powwow) – anything that gets your community outside and moving!
- Increases access to physical activity opportunities
- Removes barriers to participation
Partner with local schools to bus students to recreational facilities or other activity centres to participate in recreational and sporting programs.
- Increases access to physical activity opportunities
- Removes barriers to participation
Evidence-based Resources:
-
- Healthier Together Physical Activity- Community Strategies(8)
-
- County Health Rankings & Roadmaps What Works for Health(9)
-
- The Community Guide What Works Fact Sheet(10)
-
- Population Health Institute What Works for Health Wisconsin Diet & Exercise(11)
Check out these organizations for resources to support recreation and sports programs and staff training guidance:
Enhance your success! Think creatively about who you can partner with to host active living programs! Refer back to your asset map to see your community’s asset inventory. Consider partnering with:
- Local municipal government
- Provincial ParticipACTION chapter
- Local Friendship Centres
- SPARC Alberta
- High Five Alberta
- Local exercise or sports companies
- Senior centres
- Community organizations or associations with similar missions
C) Contracting Program Facilitators or Partners
You may consider hiring or contracting a third-party program facilitator or partner to deliver your program. If a third party oversees program delivery, their services must help you meet your program goals and objectives and should provide developmentally appropriate activities for different age groups.
If the goal of your program is to teach Indigenous youth how to hunt, a contractor should have hunting experience and the ability to guide others in safe participation.
As you consider whether external program facilitators or partners will be a good fit to create a positive impact, ask them the following:
- What programming credentials do they have to run the program?
- How will they deliver the program to ensure that participants will benefit from one or more of the following, as relevant to your program:
- Increased childhood literacy
- Increased exposure to different recreational activities and sports
- Positive experiences of participating in and mastering recreational activities or sports
- Increased community belonging through play and opportunities to connect with others
- Increased knowledge and awareness of the importance of being physically active for life
- Increased cultural competency and safety skills for staff to deliver high-quality recreation programs
If the goal of your program is to provide children/youth with after school recreational experiences, a contractor should have experience delivering programming to children/youth and know how to lead recreation activities and games.
As you consider whether external program facilitators or partners will be a good fit to create a positive impact, ask them the following:
- What programming credentials do they have to run the program?
- How will they deliver the program to ensure that participants will benefit from one or more of the following, as relevant to your program:
- Increased access to recreational, exercise and sporting opportunities
- Reduced barriers to participating in active living behaviours
Based on the responses, choose the best contractor to help you achieve your goals and create lasting positive impact! If an external contractor or partner cannot meet the necessary goals of your program, consider how the partnership has other value within your intervention, if at all.
Community Spotlight
Village of Longview ARC Society (2020 ChooseWell Champion Award)
ChooseWell Champions, Michele and Tony Geistlinger, have a passion for their community and it shows in their work of bringing healthy and active programming to their community members. From senior fitness programs to a new playground and walking trail, they have created healthy spaces for community members to pursue healthy behaviours. Watch the video to be inspired!
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- Canadian Parks and Recreation Association/Interprovincial Sport and Recreation Council. A Framework for Recreation in Canada 2015 Pathways to Wellbeing. [report on internet]. The Association; 2015 [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: https://cpra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/FrameworkForRecreationInCanada_2016wcitation.pdf
- Government of Canada. Planning for Success- a guide to planning your community-based project [report on internet]. Ottawa. The government; 2021 [cited 2022 September 29]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/atlantic-canada-opportunities/services/planning-for-success-community-project.html
- Alberta Health Services. Engaging Individuals and Families to Choose Interventions [report on internet]. Alberta. The Service; 2020 [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/amh/if-amh-ecc-engaging-indivs-and-families-to-choose-interv.pdf
- Provincial Health Services Authority. Promoting Healthy Eating and Sustainable Local Food in BC: An Action Framework for Public Institutions – Health Authorities, Educational Institutions, Childcare Facilities, and Local Governments. [report on internet]. The Services Authority; June 2011 [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: http://www.bccdc.ca/pop-public-health/Documents/foodactionframeworkforpublicinstitutions.pdf
- Active for Life. [Internet]. What is Physical Literacy; 2022c [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: https://activeforlife.com/physical-literacy-2/
- High Five. [Internet]. Studies & Reserach; n.d. [cited 2022 October 22] Available from: https://www.highfive.org/what-high-five/studies-research
- Plan H. Active Communities. [report on internet]. The Coalition; 2018 [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: https://planh.ca/sites/default/files/tools-resources/2018_09_17_activecommunities_ag_v01_2018_web.pdf
- Alberta Health Services: Healthier Together. [Internet]. Physical Activity Community Strategies; 2022c [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: https://albertahealthycommunities.healthiertogether.ca/take-action/strategy-kits/physical-activity/
- County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. [Internet]. Strategies: Policies and Programs that Work; 2022c [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/take-action-to-improve-health/what-works-for-health/strategies?f%5B0%5D=goal%3APromote%20healthy%20eating&f%5B1%5D=health-factor%3ADiet%20and%20Exercise
- The Community Guide. [Internet]. What Works Facts Sheets; June 2022 [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: https://www.thecommunityguide.org/pages/what-works-fact-sheets.html
- University of Wisconsin-Madision Population Health Institute. [Internet]. What Works for Health Wisconsin: Diet & Exercise; 2022c [cited 2022 October 22]. Available from: http://improvingwihealth.org/wwfh/factor.php?id=12