Candio, P, Meads, D orcid.org/0000-0003-1369-2483, Hill, AJ orcid.org/0000-0003-3192-0427 et al. (1 more author) (2022) Does providing everyone with free-of-charge organised exercise opportunities work in public health? Health Policy, 126 (2). pp. 129-142. ISSN 0168-8510
Abstract
Background and purpose
Population-level initiatives of free-of-charge organised exercise have been implemented to encourage residents to take up regular physical activity. However, there exists a paucity of evidence on the ability of these interventions to attract and engage residents, especially targeted subgroups. Seeking to contribute to this evidence base, we evaluated a proportionate universal programme providing free exercise sessions, Leeds Let's Get Active.
Methods
Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the programme data and participants. Time to event, count and logistic regression models examined how different population subgroups engaged with the programme in terms of number of entries, weekly participation rates and drop-off patterns.
Results
51,874 adult residents registered to the programme and provided baseline data (2013–2016). A small proportion (1.6%) attended the free sessions on a weekly basis. Higher participation rates were estimated for the groups of males, retired and non-inactive participants. A neighbourhood-level deprivation status was found to have no marginal effect on the level and frequency of participation, but to be negatively associated with participation drop-off (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.89–0.97, p = 0.001).
Conclusions
Providing everyone with free-of-charge organised exercise opportunities in public leisure centres located in deprived areas can attract large volumes of residents, but may not sufficiently encourage adults, especially inactive residents and those living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, to take up regular exercise.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) |
Keywords: | Public health; Free exercise; Proportional universal programmes; Programme attendance; Inequalities |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Academic Unit of Health Economics (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Oct 2022 11:16 |
Last Modified: | 06 Oct 2022 11:16 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.01.001 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:191657 |