Mental health clients' receptiveness to and recommendations for integrating physical activity discussions into therapy: a mixed methods study.

Objective: The mental health benefits of physical activity are well-established. Integrating physical activity counseling into therapy would expand the reach of this evidence-based treatment for mental illness. This mixed methods study examined mental health clients' receptiveness and recommendations for effectively discussing physical activity in therapy.

Neighborhood park access and park characteristics are associated with weight status in youth.

This study investigated park access and park quality in the context of childhood obesity. Participants were 20,638 children ages 6-17y from a large primary care health system. Analyses tested associations of park access and park characteristics with children's weight status, and sociodemographic interactions.

The Effect of Outdoor and Indoor Group Exercise Classes on Psychological Stress in College Students: A Pilot Study with Randomization.

Emerging evidence suggests that outdoor group exercise may reduce stress more than indoor group exercise because the outdoor environment provides unique mental health benefits. Stress leads to illnesses and diseases, but exercise mitigates harmful impacts. This study explored differences in perceived stress and outdoor physical activity participation among college students in an indoor or outdoor group exercise class.

Youth physical activity and the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.

The purpose of the systematic review was to identify, evaluate, and synthesize evidence from available published literature examining the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on youth physical activity (PA). A systematic review of the literature was conducted for years 2020-2021. Published articles were searched in eight databases.

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical Activity Behavior across Domains and Settings.

COVID-19 restrictions and alterations to daily living (e.g. working from home, caregiving responsibilities) necessitated changes in physical activity (PA) behavior.

A Scoping Review of the Health Benefits of Nature-Based Physical Activity.

The health benefits of physical activity and spending time in nature are well established. However, youths and adults in the United States are not participating in sufficient levels of physical activity and are not spending much time outdoors. Recently, the need for equitable access to nature for all populations has been receiving more public health attention, though a specific focus on nature-based physical activity has been limited.

Promoting Strength Training Among Baby Boomers: Message Framing Effects on Motivation and Behavior.

Background: Regular participation in strength training significantly enhances older adults' physical and functional health, yet only 14% of adults over age 50 report engaging in strength training at least twice per week. Exercise messages about why and how older adults should engage in strength training could influence their perceptions of and participation in the behavior. This study was designed to promote strength training among adults aged 50-70 and to determine whether the message frame accompanying a brief workout would have an impact on participants' motivation, self-efficacy, and/or physical activity behavior.

Prescribing Physical Activity in Parks and Nature: Health Care Provider Insights on Park Prescription Programs.

Background: Health care providers (HCPs) promoting physical activity (PA) through programs such as Park Prescriptions (ParkRx) are gaining momentum. However, it is difficult to realize provider PA practices and program interest, and differences in program success exist by provider type (eg, primary vs secondary). This study explored HCPs' (1) PA counseling practices, (2) knowledge/interest in ParkRx, (3) barriers and resources needed to implement PA counseling and ParkRx programs, and (4) differences in primary versus secondary HCPs.

The Electronic Community Park Audit Tool (eCPAT): Exploring the Use of Mobile Technology for Youth Empowerment and Advocacy for Healthy Community Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change.

Empowering and engaging youth in advocacy and participatory action research (PAR) for healthy community environments is an emerging approach to reducing the childhood obesity epidemic. Technology is a promising strategy for engaging youth in such efforts. The Community Park Audit Tool (CPAT) is user-friendly tool for evaluating the ability of parks to promote youth physical activity.

Advancing Uterine Cancer Survivorship Among African American Women.

Background: Few studies have examined health behavior interventions for African American women who are uterine cancer survivors. Black-white differences in uterine cancer survival suggest that there are unmet needs among these survivors.

Methods: This article identifies opportunities to address disparities in uterine corpus cancer survival and quality of life, and thereby to increase uterine cancer survivorship among African American women.

Healthy lifestyle intervention for adult clinic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Diet and exercise therapy have been reported to be effective in improving blood glucose control and are an important part of treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: The goal of this study is to examine the efficacy of a healthy lifestyle intervention for adult clinic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, as measured by Hgb-A1c, cardiovascular indicators, physical activity, weight, and BMI. Also of interest are optimal strategies for subject recruitment, the number of intervention sessions attended, and participant use of the Fitbit watch to monitor their physical activity and track food and beverage consumption.

Patient web portals, disease management, and primary prevention.

Background: Efforts aimed at health care reform and continued advances in information technologies have prompted interest among providers and researchers in patient web portals. Patient web portals are password-protected online websites that offer the patients 24-hour access to personal health information from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Methods: This article, which is based upon bibliographic searches in PubMed, reviews important developments in web portals for primary and secondary disease prevention, including patient web portals tethered to electronic medical records, disease-specific portals, health disparities, and health-related community web portals.

Development of the Physical activity and Your Nutrition for Cancer (PYNC) smartphone app for preventing breast cancer in women.

Background: In the U.S., breast cancer accounts for more cancer deaths in women than any site other than lung cancer.

An Initiative to Facilitate Park Usage, Discovery, and Physical Activity Among Children and Adolescents in Greenville County, South Carolina, 2014.

Introduction: Parks are important settings for increasing population-level physical activity (PA). The objective of this study was to evaluate Park Hop, an incentivized scavenger-hunt-style intervention designed to influence park usage, discovery, park-based PA, and perceptions of parks among children and adolescents in Greenville County, South Carolina.

Methods: We used 2 data collection methods: matched preintervention and postintervention parent-completed surveys and in-park observations during 4 days near the midpoint of the intervention.

Exploring Attitudes, Perceived Norms, and Personal Agency: Insights Into Theory-Based Messages to Encourage Park-Based Physical Activity in Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods.

Background: Public parks hold promise for promoting population-level PA, but studies show a significant portion of park use is sedentary. Past research has documented the effectiveness of message-based strategies for influencing diverse behaviors in park settings and for increasing PA in nonpark contexts. Therefore, to inform message-based interventions (eg, point-ofdecision prompts) to increase park-based PA, the purpose of this study was to elicit insights about key attitudes, perceived norms, and personal agency that affect park use and park-based PA in low-income urban neighborhoods.

"We actually care and we want to make the parks better": A qualitative study of youth experiences and perceptions after conducting park audits.

This study explored youths' experiences and perceptions about community engagement as a result of participating in a community-based data collection project using paper and mobile technology park environmental audit tools. In July 2014, youth (ages 11-18, n=50) were recruited to participate in nine focus groups after auditing two parks each using paper, electronic, or both versions of the Community Park Audit Tool in Greenville County, SC. The focus groups explored the youths' experiences participating in the project, changes as a result of participation, suggested uses of park audit data collected, and who should use the tools.

Development and testing of mobile technology for community park improvements: validity and reliability of the eCPAT application with youth.

Creation of mobile technology environmental audit tools can provide a more interactive way for youth to engage with communities and facilitate participation in health promotion efforts. This study describes the development and validity and reliability testing of an electronic version of the Community Park Audit Tool (eCPAT). eCPAT consists of 149 items and incorporates a variety of technology benefits.

ParkIndex: Development of a standardized metric of park access for research and planning.

Objective: A lack of comprehensive and standardized metrics for measuring park exposure limits park-related research and health promotion efforts. This study aimed to develop and demonstrate an empirically-derived and spatially-represented index of park access (ParkIndex) that would allow researchers, planners, and citizens to evaluate the potential for park use for a given area.

Methods: Data used for developing ParkIndex were collected in 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO).

Park availability and physical activity, TV time, and overweight and obesity among women: Findings from Australia and the United States.

This study examined relationships between three measures of park availability and self-reported physical activity (PA), television viewing (TV) time, and overweight/obesity among women from Australia and the United States. Having more parks near home was the only measure of park availability associated with an outcome. Australian women (n=1848) with more parks near home had higher odds of meeting PA recommendations and lower odds of being overweight/obese.

Are park proximity and park features related to park use and park-based physical activity among adults? Variations by multiple socio-demographic characteristics.

Background: Parks are valuable resources for physical activity (PA) given their widespread availability and low cost to maintain and use. Both proximity to parks and the availability of particular features are important correlates of PA. However, few studies have explored multiple measures of proximity simultaneously or the specific facilities associated with park use and park-based PA among adults, let alone differences across socio-demographic characteristics.

Planning for health: a community-based spatial analysis of park availability and chronic disease across the lifespan.

The purpose of this study was to explore the spatial relationship between park availability and chronic health conditions (CHCs) across age groups in Kansas City, MO. Multinomial logistic regression examined the association between having a park within one-half mile from home and the likelihood of having 0, 1, or 2 or more CHCs. Among respondents aged 40-59, those without a park within one-half mile from home were more than twice as likely to have 2 or more CHCs compared to respondents that had a park nearby.

Sex moderates associations between perceptions of the physical and social environments and physical activity in youth.

Purpose: To determine if the sex of the child moderates the relationships between perceptions of the physical/social environments and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in youth.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: North Carolina.

Differences in youth and adult physical activity in park settings by sex and race/ethnicity.

We examined differences by sex and race/ethnicity in the observed moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) of youth and adults in diverse areas of 4 parks in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2009. Male youth were more active on playgrounds and pools or splashpads than female youth. White youth were less active than nonwhite youth in open spaces and on paved trails.

Perceptions of neighborhood park quality: associations with physical activity and body mass index.

Background: Parks are important resources for physical activity (PA), yet few studies have examined how perceptions of park characteristics relate to PA and health.

Purpose: This study investigated associations between perceptions of neighborhood park quality and overall moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), park-based PA, and body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Data were collected via questionnaire from 893 households in Kansas City, Missouri.

Exploring the distribution of park availability, features, and quality across Kansas City, Missouri by income and race/ethnicity: an environmental justice investigation.

Background: Parks are key community assets for physical activity, but some evidence suggests these resources are not equitably distributed.

Purpose: This study examined disparities by income and race/ethnicity in the availability, features, and quality of parks across Kansas City, Missouri.

Methods: All parks and census tracts (CTs) were mapped using geographical information systems, and park features and quality were determined via audits.