Conference Agenda

Older adults (65+ years), women, and ethnic minority communities have been less likely to access greenspaces, contributing to inequalities in physical activity, wellbeing, and nature connection. In response, this project presented the Collaborative Targeted Outreach Programme (CTOP), a community-centred, co-produced intervention designed to improve equitable access to greenspace and the countryside for diverse Muslim communities in Luton.

CTOP integrated the Talk, Listen, Change (TLC) ethnographic approach with World Café collaboration workshops and Appreciative Inquiry (Discover, Dream, Design, Destiny). Five Collaboration Café workshops engaged women, older men, and community stakeholders in culturally responsive, gender-sensitive discussion spaces. Using visual prompts, collage building, and structured dialogue, participants co-designed their “ideal” greenspace experience, exploring where to go, when to go, who to go with, how to get there, and what to do on arrival. Data were analysed using framework analysis to inform intervention development.

The subsequent participatory action research phase operationalised the “Destiny” stage, translating community insight into supported greenspace visits. Guided visits were co-delivered with community organisations and incorporated reflective mapping, audio-visual capture of lived experience, and pre- and post-confidence and wellbeing measures. A steering group and collective reflection process supported iterative refinement and local capacity building.

Preliminary findings suggested that partnership-based, co-created approaches helped to reduce practical, cultural, and perceptual barriers to countryside access. CTOP demonstrated the potential of inclusive, strengths-based nature interventions to support more equitable participation in greenspace and enhance confidence, physical activity, and wellbeing.

Background

Public policies can promote equitable opportunities for physical activity (PA) and reduce socioeconomic inequities in PA. However, many fail to achieve this. A systems perspective is needed to capture complex, dynamic, and non-linear interactions within policy environments affecting PA inequity.

Purpose

Using a systems approach, we aimed to 1) understand how policy structures contribute to socioeconomic inequities in PA, and 2) identify system archetypes explaining the system.

Methods

Two workshop rounds with equity experts were conducted. In round one (N=11), a problem-solution tree approach identified system-level drivers underlying inequity in PA policy. Drivers were organised into subsystems using Physical Activity-Environment Policy Index (PA-EPI) domains. In round two, these factors were reviewed and relationships explored using group model building. Following the workshops, a causal loop diagram was developed, and system archetypes were identified. Findings were validated with participants through e-mail and phone.

Results

Workshop one identified 45 drivers including reliance on short-term policies, underrepresentation of low-SES groups in policy processes, emphasis on performance-driven policies, strength of policy accountability, and commercial influence. Examples of archetypes are: ‘Fixes That Fail’: where short-term policies fail to address structural barriers for low-SES groups; and ‘Success to the Successful’: where limited mechanisms for low-SES engagement in scientific agendas and policy dialogue lead to policies favouring groups with greater voice.

Conclusions

Socioeconomic inequities in PA are reinforced by systemic dynamics within policy processes. Focusing on structural solutions, rather than short-term ‘quick fix’ policies, and increasing the representation of low-SES groups in policy processes may help create more equitable outcomes.

Background: Children with a disability or health condition are less physically active than their peers, with disparities widening during adolescence. Although cost is a recognised barrier to participation, the impact of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis affecting countries worldwide on access to sport and physical activity (PA) remains unclear.

Methods: With institutional ethical approval, parents/guardians (≥18 years) in Northern Ireland completed an online survey (March–June 2024) assessing socioeconomic status, parental support for PA, and the perceived impact of the cost-of-living crisis on children’s access to sport and PA. Chi-square tests compared responses between parents/guardians of children with and without a disability/medical condition. Qualitative responses were analysed thematically following Braun and Clarke’s methodology.

Results: In total, n=300 (35%) parents/guardians reported that at least one of their children had a disability/medical condition while n=555 reported no such condition. Almost half (45%) of parents/guardians of children with a disability/health condition reported that their child had missed a sport or PA opportunity in the past year due to cost, compared with 32% of parents of children without a disability/medical condition (P<0.001). Since 2021, 43% had reduced spending on sport or PA (vs. 31%, P<0.001), and 31% had borrowed money or used credit to cover related costs (vs. 20%, P<0.001).

Conclusions: Findings highlight a perceived disproportionate impact of rising costs on parents/guardians of children with disabilities or medical conditions, potentially limiting access to sport and PA opportunities. Further qualitative work will contextualise these findings and explore how financial pressures influence participation in this population.

Funding: None.

Background:
Transitions from inpatient to community mental health services are periods of acute vulnerability, marked by elevated risks, including of relapse and readmission. Although physical activity (PA) offers well-evidenced benefits for mental and physical health, provision of transitions-specific support remains fragmented and inconsistently embedded within discharge processes. This study aims to develop a codesigned PA support and referral pathway to enhance continuity of care, prevent deterioration, and reduce preventable readmissions.

Methods:
This mixed-methods study comprises two work packages (WPs). WP1 conducts a national mapping survey of UK NHS Mental Health Trusts and community organisations, complemented by semi-structured interviews with practitioners, commissioners and PA providers, and lived experience workshops exploring transition journeys. Survey data will be analysed descriptively, while qualitative data will be examined using thematic framework analyses to identify barriers, enablers and gaps in current provision. WP2 employs structured, participatory codesign across three workshops, drawing on realist principles and systems thinking to refine pathway priorities, specify core components and develop a theory of change.

Results:
This is an intervention development study and empirical findings are forthcoming (summer 2026). However, early mapping is expected to reveal substantial variation and fragmentation in transition-related PA provision, alongside mixed experiences among staff and service users. Developmental outputs will include priority pathway components, contextual contingencies and preliminary change mechanisms.

Conclusions:
The project will deliver a prototype pathway suitable for refinement and feasibility testing. Anticipated implications include strengthened prevention-orientated practice, improved continuity of PA support following discharge, and actionable insights to inform scalable implementation.

Funding: NIHR-SPHR-PREV-RG2-Rigby.

Background: Physical activity (PA) counselling can be an effective strategy to reduce inactivity. With the rapid expansion of telehealth, PA counselling is increasingly delivered virtually, offering useful benefits where access to in-person services may be limited, such as in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Objectives: This scoping review explored key characteristics, integration pathways, delivery platforms, and theoretical underpinnings of virtual PA counselling programmes.

Methods: Five databases and five journals were searched in April 2025 for primary studies reporting characteristics of virtual PA counselling. All study designs except reviews were included and no restrictions were placed on publication date or language. The review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and reported following the PRISMA-ScR checklist.

Results: In total, 1,066 records were screened, 39 studies were included. Most studies were conducted in high-income countries (n=38), primarily involving clinical populations (n=30) or inactive adults (n=9), with the majority (n=25) published after 2020. Virtual PA counselling was commonly integrated into healthcare pathways via clinician referral (n=9), although several studies recruited participants through social media and physical advertisements (n=9). Telephone-based counselling was the most frequently used delivery platform (n=12), followed by Zoom (n=4). The most common theoretical frameworks and models used included the Social Cognitive Theory (n=7), and the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change (n=3).

Conclusions: This review identifies scalable, theory-informed models for delivering virtual physical activity counselling through healthcare and community settings. These insights can inform the design and implementation of accessible, theory-informed PA counselling programmes, particularly in SSA.

Purpose:

This project aimed to implement and evaluate a multicomponent exercise programme addressing anxiety and physical fitness among users of a Community Rehabilitation Service (SRC) in Lleida. This initiative is innovative for integrating a structured functional training protocol within a multidisciplinary psychosocial rehabilitation setting in real practice, bridging the gap between clinical mental health care and health-enhancing physical activity.

Methods:

The project’s development involved an interdisciplinary collaboration between exercise physiologists, psychologists, and occupational therapists to adapt functional training to the needs of mental health users. Implementation consisted of an eight-week moderate-intensity programme delivered to an experimental group (n = 9), while a control group (n = 9) received usual care. Evaluation compared both groups using a quasi-experimental design to measure changes in anxiety (GAD-7), fitness (Senior Fitness Test), and quality of life (EQ-5D-5L). Regarding dissemination, the protocol is being shared within the local health network.

Results:

The intervention significantly reduced anxiety (p = 0.022) and improved physical fitness (strength, flexibility, and agility), while health perception (VAS) increased (61.11 to 66.68) in the exercise group. No significant changes occurred in the control group. Main facilitators were high user adherence and effective coordination. Barriers included initial staff training needs and clinical scheduling challenges. The programme proved feasible without adding significant burden to regular practice

Conclusions:

These findings imply that integrating structured exercise into community psychosocial rehabilitation is a viable strategy for health promotion. This supports interdisciplinary policies including physical activity as a core component of mental health recovery services.

Background : The Belgian national surveys (Food Consumption Survey and Health Interview Survey), which measure physical activity in the Belgian population, showed that part of the adult population failed to achieve the WHO guidelines for physical activity. Importantly, physical activity level remained largely stable over the last decade. Therefore, identifying different profiles is critical for policymakers, as it enables the targeting of high-risk groups and the development of evidence-based, context-specific interventions.

Methods: The data from 2025 Health Interview Survey were analyzed using a Factor Analysis of Mixed Data and a Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components model. The variables included in these analyses cover several complementary dimensions: physical activity, sedentary behavior, sociodemographic characteristics and health status.

Results: Five clusters were identified. Clusters 1 and 2 reflect high-risk profiles marked by overweight or obesity, multimorbidity, low physical activity, and prolonged sedentary time. Cluster 1 mainly includes urban women aged 55–74, while Cluster 2 consists mostly of men living in suburban or rural areas with limited screen time. Cluster 3 comprises young rural women with normal BMI and at least one chronic condition, low transport-related activity, and low sedentary time. Clusters 4 and 5 include individuals without chronic disease: older urban men (overweight, active, low sedentary time) and young suburban men (normal BMI, active, high sedentary time), respectively.

Conclusions: This analysis enabled the identification of sedentary or insufficiently active profiles. Although no definitive recommendations can be made, preliminary proposals were developed and will need to be validated through further analyses and/or field-based studies.

Aim
An app designed to support behaviour change, including enhanced physical activity, has been co-designed and evaluated in previous research projects. This study aimed to explore user experiences among adults living in socially disadvantaged areas.

Method
A qualitative study was conducted with users who were invited to use the app for three months. Interviews were carried out after one month. Recruitment occurred through social media advertisements. A total of 63 individuals were eligible and provided informed consent, of whom 59 activated the app. The first 30 of these participants were invited for interviews. Digital interviews were conducted with 15 informants, whereof 13 women, with a mean age of 54 (±11) years. Interviews lasted 17-39 minutes. were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using manifest content analysis.

Results
The analysis yielded three main categories: 1) Lifestyle support to suit all, 2) Experiences of Interaction and motivation, and 3) Experiences of interface usability. Overall, the app was appreciated for its multifaceted and interactive approach, its appealing design, and its inspirational and relevant content. However, navigation was perceived as challenging, and features such as activity registration and tracking were described as inflexible and therefore demotivating. The language used in the app was considered too academic for many users.

Conclusions
The findings provide insights into users’ experiences of the app’s relevance and usability, though these experiences demonstrated considerable variability. Participants articulated several suggestions regarding how an app promoting healthy behaviours as physical activity, can be better tailored to the needs and preferences of this target group.

Purpose:

Informal caregivers of people living with dementia often report low levels of physical activity, which is due in part to the high levels of physical, psychological, and social burden associated with their caregiving role. Lower levels of physical activity in caregivers contribute to the increased risk of many conditions, including cardiovascular disease, social isolation, and depression. One of the difficulties in increasing physical activity levels in caregivers is the time required for caring, with physical activity usually a very low priority for caregivers. One solution could be to involve both the caregiver and the person they care for in the physical activity. This can be challenging in traditional physical activity settings, however gardening is a potential solution, especially as it can be considered exercise by stealth.

Project or policy description:

The University of Bedfordshire, in partnership with the Central East Integrated Care Board , developed a wellbeing garden specifically for people living with dementia and their caregivers. The garden was co-designed with a diverse group of stakeholders, including people living with dementia and their caregivers, voluntary organisations, community leaders, and health and social care professionals. The garden design that resulted from this process includes raised beds, vertical planting, sensory plants, and wide accessible paths.

Conclusions:

Community wellbeing gardens can provide a transformative therapeutic space where people living with dementia and their caregivers can share meaningful activity incorporating social interaction and physical activity that can provide both physical and mental health benefits. for people with dementia and their caregivers.