Testing the effectiveness of a health intervention that manipulates the social environment at active leisure events in Scotland

Abstract

Background: Active leisure events are health interventions promoting physical activity amongst non-traditional sporting participants. Models of physical activity assume that individual and environmental components interact to shape activity levels. The active leisure event organiser, parkrun, recently introduced a new volunteer role, the parkwalker, to manipulate the social environment at their events to encourage more walkers to attend. Design and methods: This study compares the finishing times of new parkrun participants in Scotland for a year before and after the introduction of the parkwalker initiative. Different parkrun venues in Scotland were separated into those that fully adopted, partially adopted and did not adopt the parkwalker role into their events. Results: A model of finishing times revealed they have slowed after the introduction of parkwalkers and the level of slowing is associated with the level of adoption of the role by events. The parkwalker initiative was particularly associated with the slowing of finishing times of older new participants and participants at larger events. The initiative was also associated with an increase in the proportion of female new participants and a reverse in the recent decline in the age of new participants. Conclusions: The findings suggest that parkrun have introduced a successful intervention to their events that has manipulated the social environment to increase both engagement and inclusivity. This has management implications for both parkrun and other active leisure events. Practitioners engaging in social prescription might want to direct patients towards those active leisure events most engaged in welcoming slower new participants. Contribution to Public Health This study investigates how an intervention, the parkwalker Initiative, impacted the demographics of participants at parkrun. The intervention manipulated the social environment at events through using a volunteer walker who encourages other walkers. This study showed that finishing times slowed at parkrun events after the introduction of the initiative suggesting that a barrier to participation for some walkers had been overcome. The level of engagement with the initiative was associated with the level of slowing in finishing times. Active leisure events can successfully manipulate their social environment to increase participation by specific target demographics. It was also notable that the slowing involved increases in the proportion of slower runners as well as walkers. The findings have implications for event organisers and practitioners engaging in social prescription of parkrun who might be best directing patients to events with a regular parkwalker.