The Expansion of a Parent-focused Physical Literacy Intervention for Early Childhood Called PLAYshop

The Expansion of a Parent-focused Physical Literacy Intervention for Early Childhood Called PLAYshop

The PLAYshop program is a novel, brief, theory-based, parent-focused physical literacy intervention, that can help mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity of children from diverse and vulnerable families who have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Primary Research Question: Among vulnerable families (e.g., lower socioeconomic status), does the PLAYshop program increase parental capability, opportunity, and motivation to support preschool-aged children's physical literacy development, compared to controls?

The overall objective of this study is to generate evidence for the efficacy of the PLAYshop program in diverse and vulnerable populations, such as families of lower socioeconomic status, who have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Research Questions:

Primary: Among vulnerable families (e.g., lower socioeconomic status), does the PLAYshop program increase parental capability, opportunity, and motivation to support preschool-aged children's physical literacy development, compared to controls? Secondary: What is the level of, and factors that influence, implementation at the family and program delivery level when working with vulnerable families? Tertiary: Does the PLAYshop program increase preschool-aged children's motivation and enjoyment, compared to controls?

Hypothesis for the primary research question: Increases in parental outcomes, including capability, opportunity, and motivation, will be greater in the intervention group, compared to the control group.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Parents of children aged 3 to 5 years who live in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia and meet at least one of the following criteria:

   • Statistics Canada's low income before tax cut-off based on household size and the population of the municipality they live in
   • have an education level below a bachelor's degree (participating parent)
   • are unemployed (participating parent)
   • are a single adult in their household
   • are connected with an agency partner that supports vulnerable populations

2. Research staff and any organization partners who lead the workshop

Exclusion Criteria:

1) Parents:

• who do not have internet access to complete the questionnaires and join the virtual workshop. This includes access to a device such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop/computer and a data plan or WIFI.
• who are not comfortable reading, writing, speaking and listening to at least one the following languages: English, Spanish, Farsi, Mandarin (Simplified Chinese), or Cantonese (Traditional Chinese).
• that have participated in prior PLAYshop pilot and feasibility trials