Document Type
Portfolio
Publication Date
2023
Abstract
Goal Statement: The goal of this portfolio is to identify low cost, high access, and high participation community programs that will promote increased leisure time physical activity amongst Baltimore City adults ages 18 and older.
Significant Findings: Adults in Baltimore City, Maryland are less physically active on average than the rest of the United States (County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, 2022). A sedentary lifestyle places adults at greater risk of depression (Luo et al., 2022), low overall mood (DeMello et al., 2018), obesity (Ali & Kunugi, 2020), and higher hospitalization rates for comorbid mental health problems (Gupta et al., 2023). Barriers exist at multiple socio-ecological levels. Individual barriers are biology, age, income, personal history, self-efficacy, and the perceived benefits of exercise (Lee & Kim, 2022). At the relationship level, social support is a major factor in healthy activity levels (Lee & Kim, 2022) and professional coaching plays a positive role in adherence (Chen et al., 2022; Zaragoza et al., 2019). Community barriers to physical activity are cost, availability of facilities, and facility quality (Lee & Kim, 2022; Pelletier et al, 2022; Peng, Ng, & Ha, 2023). Barriers at the societal level include sustainability, policy-maker participation, and fostering a sense of community ownership (Zaragoza et al., 2019). Prevention strategies based in Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Social Action Community Change Model (SACCM) are good matches for this need. SCT looks at the reciprocal person-environment influence through six mechanisms (i.e., reciprocal determinism, behavioral capability, expectations, modeling, and reinforcement) (National Cancer Institute, 2005). SCT is effective in addressing uncontrolled eating (Annesi, 2022) and assisting prediabetics to complete behavior change programs (Shamizadeh, Jahangiry, Sarbakhsh, & Ponnet, 2019). SACCM is a community level intervention focused on empowerment, identifying strengths, engaging community members toward change, and selecting community challenges to address (National Cancer Institute, 2005). This is accomplished through grassroots mobilization of disadvantaged populations and developing community enlightened self-interest (Hess & Davis, 2020).
