Commentary – Moving forward: ParticipACTION’s strategic plan 2015-2020

摘要

As pointed out by Faulkner, Yun, Tremblay and Spence, ^{Footnote 1} since 1971, ParticipACTION has been working to encourage Canadians to add more physical activity to their daily lives. To date, ParticipACTION has been largely successful. This special issue provides a basis of evidence which demonstrates ParticipACTION’s effectiveness in increasing organizational awareness and capacity as well as readiness and advocacy for promoting physical activity. ^{Footnote 2} , ^{Footnote 3} , ^{Footnote 4} ParticipACTION is recognized by most (83%) Canadian adults. Furthermore, nearly all physical activity sector organizations (87%) agree that ParticipACTION is, and has been, successful in advancing and communicating knowledge about issues associated with physical activity. ^{Footnote 5} However, there is more to do. To address ongoing physical inactivity in Canada, ParticipACTION launched a new 5-year strategic plan in 2015. ^{Footnote 6} This new strategic plan includes a renewed mandate, and clear objectives to help Canadians move more and sit less. Specifically, ParticipACTION’s new mandate is: As Canada’s premier physical activity brand, ParticipACTION helps Canadians move more and sit less through innovative engagement initiatives (i.e., novel and compelling opportunities for behavioural changes) and thought leadership activities (i.e., expert-informed and dissemination-based actions) – ParticipACTION’s vision remains consistent and is aimed at creating a Canada where physical activity is a vital part of daily life. The most important shift in the new strategic plan comprises a renewed mandate which has changed from raising awareness to enabling and measuring behavioural change, from serving organizations in the physical activity sector to aligning the sector around important issues, and from focussing solely on moving more to including sitting less as well. With this new strategic plan comes a shift in audience. The target public will shift from focussing on parents of school-aged children, to reaching out to generally inactive Canadians of all ages who want help getting started. The focus for children and youth will be to build skills and confidence, and provide opportunities to be active. Among adults, the focus will be to help inactive people increase their physical activity and decrease their sedentary behaviour. Additionally, ParticipACTION will focus on informing and enabling other organizations across the country to mobilize and coordinate action. Targeting Canadians of all ages and in multiple settings, ParticipACTION works with all levels of government and the private sector, and has a partnership network with national and regional non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) and over 7500 physical activity organizations. ParticipACTION hopes to achieve its strategic priorities by leveraging its brand as an iconic representation of physical activity in Canada. Over the next five years, most engagement initiatives and thought leadership activities will concentrate on promoting the ParticipACTION brand and increasing visibility among Canadians ( Figure 1 ). Revenue generation and operations will support all areas of business. Specific examples of each business sector will be described in the following sections.