Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
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WR2_2_3: Symposium: Physical Activity Messaging Across the Lifespan: Evidence and Innovation from Scotland and Ireland Location: White room 2 Session Chair: Caera Grady | |
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Physical Activity Messaging Across the Lifespan: Evidence and Innovation from Scotland and Ireland Background and Aim: Physical activity (PA) messaging is central to increasing population-level PA, yet systematic evidence-based approaches to message development, adaptation, and evaluation remain underutilised. Messages are often presented as “one-size-fits-all”, despite clear differences in needs, motivations, and contexts across groups and the lifespan. This symposium showcases novel, ongoing, early career-led research, applying structured PA messaging approaches across children, adolescents, and adults in Scotland and Ireland. The aim is to demonstrate how contextually relevant, co-created and evidence-informed messaging can strengthen existing PA interventions and communication strategies. Summary of Contributions: This symposium opens with an overview of PA messaging in relation to international PA policy, and introduces the Physical Activity Messaging Framework (PAMF) as a practical tool to guide message development, delivery and evaluation. Three empirical presentations then illustrate application of systematic messaging approaches across the lifespan. Presentation two examines PA messaging within The Daily Mile in Scottish primary schools, drawing on perspectives from pupils, teachers, parents and school leaders to identify messaging needs that support implementation fidelity. Presentation three presents the co-creation and feasibility testing of the COMMUNICATE toolkit within an Irish secondary school whole-of-school PA programme, demonstrating how participatory approaches and peer leadership can enhance relevance and acceptability. Presentation four focuses on adults in Scotland, evaluating understanding of PA guidelines and testing PAMF-informed messages across diverse adult groups, highlighting variation in preferences by life stage and circumstance. Added Value: This symposium offers early career-led insights from active research at the forefront of PA communication. Collectively, the presentations demonstrate that effective PA messaging requires: (1) contextual tailoring across and within life stages; (2) use of evidence-based tools to guide message development; (3) meaningful involvement of target audiences and multiple interested parties; and (4) application beyond policy communication, including established interventions and programmes. The Scottish-Irish collaboration strengthens transferability across settings. Conclusion and Key Take-Home Messages: PA messaging benefits from systematic, participatory, and context-sensitive approaches. Evidence-based frameworks such as the PAMF can enhance communication across diverse populations and settings, supporting more effective PA promotion throughout the lifespan. Presentations of the Symposium What Makes Children Move? Co-Creating Physical Activity Messages in Scottish Primary Schools with Insights from The Daily Mile Purpose: Children’s physical activity (PA) levels decline upon starting formal schooling. The Daily Mile (TDM) is a free school-based intervention, addressing this challenge through 15 minutes of running, walking or wheeling outside during lesson time, at least three times per week. However, variation in delivery and engagement limits potential impact. This project explores how PA messaging can support implementation fidelity by identifying context-specific messaging needs among multiple interested parties. Methods: Ongoing data collection conducts focus groups with pupils, teachers, parents, and school leaders in Scottish primary schools. The Physical Activity Messaging Framework (PAMF) was applied and adapted to inform the development of age-appropriate focus group topic guides, marking its first use to support research with primary school–aged children. Topic guides explore implementation experiences of TDM, perceived benefits, and messaging preferences across stakeholder groups. Framework analysis will be used to analyse data collected. Results: Preliminary insights indicate that the PAMF is feasible for structuring PA communication research with children, supporting age-appropriate discussion of PA determinants. By September 2026, key barriers and facilitators to TDM implementation and stakeholder-specific messaging needs will be identified, informing the following co-development messages to improve understanding of benefits, motivation and fidelity. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the value of applying evidence-based messaging frameworks early in the research process, guiding data collection and engagement of multiple interested parties. Anticipated findings will provide practical insights into how context-aware, co-created PA messaging can strengthen delivery of established school-based interventions, with implications for scalable and wider application across educational settings. The Communication of Physical Activity Messages in Irish Secondary Schools: From student voice to peer leadership Purpose: This presentation outlines the role of the COMMUNICATE toolkit, co-created with secondary school stakeholders, in supporting a communications campaign within a peer-led whole-of-school programme (WSP) for physical activity (PA) (the Active School Flag). Methods: The COMMUNICATE toolkit was developed with a multi-stakeholder team of co-researchers (policymakers, practitioners, researchers, adolescents) and co-creators (end-users). The co-creation process was evaluated to ensure meaningful participatory research. The COMMUNICATE toolkit was evaluated in a pre-post, quasi-experimental, mixed methods feasibility study to assess its feasibility and acceptability within the Active School Flag, using the Orsmond & Cohn objectives for feasibility studies. Results: The co-creation process was iterative, adaptive, and suitable for peer leaders and teachers. A multi-component, multi-level toolkit was developed incorporating evidence-based messaging tools and principles for peer leaders to implement when delivering a WSP. The feasibility assessment demonstrated acceptability among school stakeholders and identified necessary adaptations to improve intervention fidelity, content, and study procedures before proceeding to a definitive trial. There was low intervention fidelity and this was accompanied by no meaningful improvements in the peer leaders' communication or teamwork skills, health literacy levels, knowledge or beliefs about PA. Including teacher training and further alignment with the WSP could improve intervention fidelity and content. Conclusions: Participatory approaches can successfully facilitate the development of feasible, acceptable and contextually appropriate PA communication strategies. The COMMUNICATE toolkit provides a practical, evidence-informed resource for peer-led whole-of-school PA programmes. Critical considerations are outlined for embedding PA messaging into existing WSP. Nevertheless, modifications are needed before full-scale effectiveness testing. How should we communicate about physical activity to different groups of the adult public in Scotland? Purpose: Physical inactivity causes approximately 3,000 deaths annually in Scotland, yet awareness of UK Chief Medical Officers' physical activity guidelines (UKCMOPAG) remains low (4-18%). Scotland's National Framework identifies Active Communications as a key system, with specific action to apply the Physical Activity Messaging Framework (PAMF) in practice. This presentation synthesises findings from two complementary studies examining public understanding of UKCMOPAG and testing PAMF-informed messages for diverse Scottish adult populations. Methods: Study 1 employed qualitative semi-structured interviews with 17 adults (mean age 33.1 years, 52% female) in Scotland to explore understanding and opinions of UKCMOPAG and messaging preferences. Study 2 used a cross-sectional online survey (n=279) to evaluate three message types (guideline, educational, persuasive) across five adult groups: general adults (18-64), older adults (65+), adults with disability, pregnant, and postpartum individuals. Results: Interviews revealed participants were unable to accurately recall UKCMOPAG and described them as unclear and unappealing when informed. Participants preferred positive, relatable messages emphasising short-term benefits over threshold-based guidelines, with NHS identified as the most trusted source. Survey findings showed all message types rated highly for clarity, relevance and appeal (median=6), but only moderately for motivational effect (median=5-6), with preferences varying across population groups. Conclusions: Current guideline communication strategies are ineffective. Future approaches should separate technical guidelines from public-facing messages, use relatable language, emphasise short-term benefits, adopt continuum-based messaging, and ensure delivery by trusted sources. The PAMF provides a valuable framework for developing targeted, evidence-based messages for diverse Scottish populations. | |
