Citizen Science to Promote Sustained Physical Activity in Low-Income Communities

Citizen Science to Promote Sustained Physical Activity in Low-Income Communities

While low-income midlife and older adults are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases that can be alleviated by regular physical activity, few physical activity programs have been developed specifically with their needs in mind. Those programs that are available typically do not address the recognized local environmental factors that can impact physical activity. This research aims to evaluate the added effects on two-year physical activity levels of a novel citizen science neighborhood engagement program (called Our Voice) when combined with an evidence-based, individually-focused physical activity program (Active Living Every Day), relative to the individually-focused program alone. The programs will be delivered in affordable housing settings, and represent a potentially scalable means for promoting physical activity across broader income groups in the US.

The major objective of this project is to enhance the potential scalability and sustainability of person-level physical activity (PA) interventions by leveraging the capacity of residents themselves as local data gatherers and solution generators for neighborhood environmental change. The primary aim of the group-randomized trial is to systematically compare the sustained (two-year) multi-level impacts of a lay advisor-delivered, person-level PA intervention that has demonstrated efficacy and translatability (Active Living Every Day) [ALED Alone arm], versus the ALED program in combination with a novel neighborhood-level intervention, called Our Voice [ALED+Our Voice arm]. The Our Voice program teaches residents to use a simple mobile application to individually and collectively identify neighborhood barriers to daily PA. They then convey this information to local stakeholders and decision-makers in ways that can facilitate potentially sustainable neighborhood-level improvements in support of regular PA. Up to sixteen affordable housing sites serving low-income, ethnically diverse midlife and older adults will be randomized to one of the two interventions.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Lives in or around a designated housing site;
• Is insufficiently physically active based on National guidelines;
• Can engage in moderate forms of PA such as walking;
• No plans to move from the area over the 2-year period;
• Willing to engage in study assessments.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Only one eligible member of a household will be enrolled;
• Medical conditions which contraindicate participation in regular, unsupervised moderate-intensity physical activity.