A systematic review of three approaches for constructing physical activity messages
What messages work and what improvements are needed?
Background: To motivate individuals to adhere to a regular physical activity regime, guidelines must be supplemented with persuasive messages that are disseminated widely. While substantial research has examined effective strategies…
ParticipACTION
The future challenges for physical activity promotion in Canada
This commentary is the concluding piece of a series of papers about the Canadian ParticipACTION initiative. It describes the resurgence of the new ParticipACTION as a national communications initiative in…
ParticipACTION
Baseline assessment of the capacity available to the 'New ParticipACTION', a qualitative study of Canadian organizations
Evaluation of the original ParticipACTION campaign effects focused on individual awareness, recall, and understanding. Less studied has been the impact such campaigns have had on the broader organizational capacity to…
ParticipACTION
Baseline assessment of the 'new ParticipACTION', a quantitative survey of Canadian organizational awareness and capacity
ParticipACTION is a Canadian physical activity (PA) communications and social marketing organization that was relaunched in 2007 after a six-year hiatus. This study assesses the baseline awareness and capacity of…
ParticipACTION
Awareness of the participACTION campaign among Canadian adults, examining the knowledge gap hypothesis and a hierarchy-of-effects model
ParticipACTION was a pervasive communication campaign that promoted physical activity in the Canadian population for three decades. According to McGuire's hierarchy-of-effects model (HOEM), this campaign should influence physical activity through…
Research that informs Canada's physical activity guides
An introduction
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP), in partnership with Health Canada and others, released Canada's first physical activity guide for adults in 1998, with specific versions for older adults…
Physical activity guides for Canadians
Messaging strategies, realistic expectations for change, and evaluation
Physical activity guidelines offer evidence-based behavioural benchmarks that relate to reduced risk of morbidity and mortality if people adhere to them. Essentially, the guidelines tell people what to do, but…
Physical activity guidelines and guides for Canadians
Facts and future
This article summarizes the main findings from the papers included in this journal supplement. It consolidates the evidence currently available to inform and advance the development of physical activity guidelines…