UWALK: the development of a multi-strategy, community-wide physical activity program.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Promotion
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Physical inactivity is a global health concern.
• Community-wide interventions are needed to promote physical activity.
• eHealth and mHealth offer scalable solutions for behavior change.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development of the UWALK program, a community-wide physical activity initiative.
• To outline the theoretical frameworks guiding UWALK's strategies and evaluation.
• To detail the e/mHealth components for promoting physical activity.

Main Methods:

• Utilized social ecological model and social cognitive theory for strategy development.
• Incorporated marketing, communication, partnerships, and e/mHealth programs.
• Promoted self-monitoring using devices and apps, with automatic data upload options.
• Employed the RE-AIM framework for program evaluation.

Main Results:

• The UWALK program was developed using established theoretical frameworks.
• e/mHealth components were integrated for physical activity promotion and monitoring.
• An evaluation framework (RE-AIM) was established for assessing program impact.
• The program was launched in Alberta, Canada, in 2013.

Conclusions:

• UWALK is a theoretically-informed, community-wide approach to physical activity promotion.
• The program leverages e/mHealth for scalable and evidence-based interventions.
• UWALK has potential for population-level dissemination and uptake.
• This initiative provides a model for ecologically valid physical activity promotion programs.