The ENJOY Seniors Exercise Park IMP-ACT project: IMProving older people’s health through physical ACTivity

Five local governments (6 public sites/parks) will undergo 9-month implementation intervention incorporating key elements of the TERM framework intervention: Training, Engagement, Resources development and Marketing and promotion. All participating sites have a specialized outdoor equipment, Seniors Exercise Parks, already installed in their parks. The Seniors Exercise Park incorporates exercise stations that target balance, function, range of movement and strength. Training - knowledge transfer: Senior champions/leaders (community members) from each site will participate in a 5-week "train the trainer" program, 1.5 hour sessions per week for 5 weeks. They will be learn how to welcome and train other community members at the site. The training will be delivered by a qualified exercise instructor/research staff. Two training modules will be delivered per site, one at the beginning of the intervention period and the second one toward the end. Allied health professionals will be provided with a half-day workshop training program at the exercise park site. This will cover safe use, exercise prescription and program design, incorporating risk management, theoretical and practical sessions. The training workshop will be delivered after the completion of the 'train the trainer' or towards the last two weeks of the train the trainer completion. The workshop will be delivered by the member of the research team. Variation in time of delivery is expected to account for potential weather impact. Induction sessions by qualified research staff – 12 sessions (once weekly for 1 hour per session) will be offered at each site for clients referred from local GP clinics or community health. The sessions will include induction and familiarisation on the exercise equipment for future safe independent usage. The sessions will be supervised by a qualified research staff. Adherence will be monitored using an attendance checklist. The induction sessions will be run after train the trainer and the allied health professional training workshop. Engagement: Communities will be engaged through local community events (e.g. open days, Seniors' Weeks, Community Health expos, come and try sessions), local advisory groups at each site which will include local stakeholder representatives (e.g. leisure centres, community health centres, council staff, senior champions, community consumers). Community engagement activities will occur approximately 6 weeks from the commencement of the intervention period and will be determined by the council staff in discussion with the research team. The local advisory committee will be formed at the commencement of the intervention period and will meet every 6-8 weeks. The local advisory committee role is to provide advice on matters related to supporting the delivery of the research project within the municipality, and advising strategies to support longer term and broader translational activities beyond the term of this project. The Local Advisory will advise on activation of the site, increase community engagement and maximise participation. Resource Development: Our project resources will include information about the benefits of physical activity and safe usage of the equipment. These resources will comprise on-site information (instructional signage with friendly illustrations), traditional hard copy flyers, and an online platform (website, video resources and the ENJOY-ME-APP smartphone app). Workshop and training resources will also be developed including on-line resources (video materials) and written educational materials (e.g., manuals). Resources will designed specifically for this study and be available once the intervention period has commenced at each site and will be used throughout the intervention period as needed. Marketing and Promotion: Marketing and promotion will take place in collaboration with the communication team within each council to reach community members using various platforms: mail out flyers, on-site signage, newsletter stories, local radio stations, social media, and video promotions/photo shoots. As we anticipate variation in the marketing/promotion strategies between councils, we will develop a core strategy that is adjustable based on council structures and resources. This will include a social marketing approach, combining communications with supportive policies, environments and opportunities for physical activity. The outdoor Seniors Exercise Parks are freely available for the public, and community members will be able to use them with no supervision. Supervision of usage will only take place during the activities listed above by a qualified member of the research team/staff for any community members/participants/visitors attending these activities.