Stakeholders' experiences of physical activity programmes development, implementation, and evaluation in universities...

To explore stakeholders' experiences and perspectives regarding the development, implementation, and evaluation of physical activity (PA) programmes in universities which are critical to be understood to address the implementation challenges.

This qualitative study gathered experiences and perspectives from 34 participants recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Participants represented five stakeholder levels, four types of United Kingdom institutions and three types of Indonesian institutions. Data were analysed using the six-stage framework method analysis by three coders, informed by critical realism and drawing on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the United Kingdom Medical Research Council framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions.

Seven themes influenced PA programme implementation in university across both countries. Three themes cut across development, implementation and evaluation: institutional mobilisation and alignment, leadership and champions, external PA communities. Practical guidance and stakeholder capability shaped programme development. Delivery capacity and staffing, as well as physical and digital infrastructures shaped implementation. Institutional recognition facilitated evaluation.

Our findings may help identify and address challenges faced by stakeholders in developing, implementing, and evaluating PA programmes in universities. They also suggest a need for context-sensitive support to help stakeholders address these challenges within their institutional settings.