Author(s): WING, K., DE STE CROIX, M., ROBERTS, W.M., BAKER, C. , Institution: UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE, Country: UNITED KINGDOM, Abstract-ID: 1092

INTRODUCTION:
There is currently a growing inactive population of young people globally. It is widely recognised that practitioner education could impact children’s Physical Literacy (PL) and subsequent Physical Activity (PA) throughout life [1]. Boing is a workshop-based programme that aims to help practitioners develop children’s PL through active play; however, the programs impact is unknown. The aim of this study was to explore the efficacy of practitioner training and reach to children as the end user, using a novel, multi-method RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) approach.
METHODS:
926 practitioners from 45 organisations were recruited. Three sequential questionnaires explored practitioner education pre, post and 6-months after training for self-reported attributes: knowledge, confidence and attitude (Likert scale). Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for non-parametric data investigated changes in attributes. Rank-biserial correlation [r] was utilised to calculate the effect size [2]. Further Bayesian statistical analysis was utilised to investigate changes between organisational groups. Practitioner interviews (n=17) captured perceived barriers and facilitators to use 1-year post-training. Finally, the child’s voice was explored using Unfinished Stories: a novel drawing-based interview approach with 12 children from 3 organisations. Thematic content analysis was completed on both verbal data (practitioner and child) and visual narratives (child).
RESULTS:
Quantitative: Perceived attributes towards PL was poor across the UK. Boing training elicited significant changes across all organisational groups (p<0.001, r=0.94). This was retained 6-months after training, however, significant decreases between post training and 6-months were evident (p=<0.001, r=0.49). Notably organisational groups did not differ with extreme evidence found for equal groups (BF10 =<0.001).

Qualitative: Five higher-order themes emerged from practitioners including organisation structure and paedology. Practitioners reported widespread adoption of Boing, however, barriers such as reduced contact time and policy led to practitioners not maintaining use over the year. Three higher-order themes emerged from children, including digital play and social interaction. Children described technology, identified family/friends and detailed sport/games with adults commonly absent. This differed from the practitioner narrative.
CONCLUSION:
Current knowledge, confidence and attitude toward PL among practitioners is poor. Boing is effective at improving this; however, further support is required to promote continued use. Despite this, children have their own unique view of play that differs from their adult counterparts. The role of unsupervised and digital play must be acknowledged if the voice of the child is valued in child-centred research and policy [3] to promote PA throughout life.

[1] Durden-Myers et al. (2018)
[2] Goss-Sampson (2019)
[3] UN Committee: Rights of the Child (1991)