The Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing 'The Daily Mile' in a UK Based Primary School: a Process Evaluation Protocol.

Background and purpose:

As the physical activity rates of school children in the UK continue to remain significantly below recommended levels, interventions aiming to promote physical activity have gained increasing popularity. This article reports a protocol for a process evaluation of ‘The Daily Mile’™ in a UK based primary school.

Methods:

Using a multi-method process evaluation design developed in accordance with UK Medical Research Council and Health Research Authority guidelines, both quantitative and qualitative approaches will be used to examine implementation, mechanism of impact and contextual factors instrumental to the replication and/or wider implementation of this new school-based physical activity programme. The study will take place in a primary academy located in the UK implemented by 4 teachers and 2 teaching assistants to an anticipated purposive recruitment sample of 70 children ages 6-11 years. Split into two phases, phase one of the study will involve a 12-week trial of the intervention with concurrent quantitative data collection. A maximum variance sub-sample of 24-30 relevant stakeholders will be invited to participate in phase two focus groups. Specific steps are taken to address ethical issues relating to the assent of young children informed by previous school-based health research.

Conclusions:

This protocol demonstrates the application of standardised definitions and components relating to evaluation of physical activity in schools and provides physiotherapists, public health professionals and decision-makers with information on how this health-enhancing physical activity intervention was tested for its feasibility and possible scale up with information to aid wider scale implementation.