Active Middle School Communities Project
In collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin College of Education, “Co-Creating and Implementing Contextually Responsive Physical Activity Interventions with Low-Income Adolescents” also known as the “Active Middle School Communities Project” is a comprehensive, community-engaged, and equity-driven mixed methods study to design and test strategies for improving community-wide and individual-level physical activity outcomes in middle school neighborhoods with high proportions of low-income and minoritized students and residents.
For more information, see the press release about the $5mil NIH Grant:https://www.uth.edu/news/story/physical-activity-intervention-strategies-in-low-income-communities-funded-by-a-5m-nih-grant-for-collaborative-research-at-uthealth-houston-and-the-university-of-texas-at-austin.
Purpose of the Study
- Physical inactivity is a public health crisis and a major contributor to chronic disease disparities, which disproportionately impact low-income, minoritized communities because of historical disinvestments and institutional bias that result in suboptimal access to safe, quality active transportation options and places for active play, recreation, and sports.
- UTHealth Houston will conduct a comprehensive, community-engaged, equity driven study to design and test strategies for improving individual-level and community-wide physical activity outcomes in low-income, middle school communities with high proportions of minority students and residents.
Goals
- To identify community-level barriers and facilitators for physical activity in urban middle school communities with high proportions of low-income, minoritized residents
- To equitably engage multi-sectoral and multi-generational community actors for co-creating contextually-responsive intervention strategies to improve access to active transport and leisure in urban middle school communities with high proportions of low-income, minoritized residents.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of the co-created intervention strategies for improving physical activity outcomes in urban middle school communities with high proportions of low-income, minoritized residents.
For more information, see the press release about the $5mil NIH Grant: https://www.uth.edu/news/story/physical-activity-intervention-strategies-in-low-income-communities-funded-by-a-5m-nih-grant-for-collaborative-research-at-uthealth houston-and-the-university-of-texas-at-austin.
