Mapping and scaling up local level physical activity policy monitoring

Background
Numerous tools have been developed to monitor physical activity (PA) policies but only a limited number of them is designed specifically for the local level.

Purpose
As existing tools for local PA policy monitoring focus often on in-depth data collection in single municipalities, this exploratory study aimed to analyse potentials for scaling up local physical activity policy monitoring initiatives.

Methods
To generate knowledge on local PA policy monitoring, a qualitative iterative research design was adopted, including (a) the mapping of indicators of established local PA policy monitoring tools and (b) a co-construction process with policy-makers in France and Germany. The co-construction process generated data on facilitators and barriers for large-scale policy monitoring.

Results
The comparison of established tools provided a systematic overview of indicators and processes used to monitor local PA policy. Based on the co-construction process, a shortlist of indicators with a high relevance for the involved municipalities was created, considering the perspective of policy-makers from different sectors and countries.

Conclusions
The results show that a strategy for scaling up local PA policy monitoring can be developed based on a co-construction process with policymakers. However, only a limited number of municipalities was involved in this explorative study. Further research is needed to validate the findings for France and Germany, and to test the transferability of this strategy to other countries.

Practical implications
Policymakers can develop a strategy for scaling up local level PA policy monitoring that is tailored to a specific country or region based on the results of this study.

Funding
This project has received funding by BayFrance under the grant agreement number FK-06-23.