# Co-creating and implementing contextually responsive physical activity interventions with low-income adolescents

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · 2024 · $992,628

## Abstract

Co-creating and implementing contextually responsive physical activity interventions with
 low-income adolescents
PROJECT SUMMARY
Physical inactivity is a public health crisis in the United States (U.S.), with less than a quarter (24%) of children
and adolescents and only 3 out of every 4 adults (75%) meeting physical activity guidelines. Historical
disinvestments and institutional bias have led to suboptimal access to safe and efficient active transportation
options, and to safe, quality places for active play, recreation, and sport in high-need communities, resulting in
significant economic and racial/ethnic physical activity disparities. Early adolescence is a critical window of
opportunity for establishing lifelong physically active lifestyles and is the stage of life when the steepest
declines in physical activity occur. Given that schools can serve as hubs for community and civic engagement,
school communities are excellent settings for community-engaged physical activity interventions involving and
prioritizing students, parents, and school neighborhood residents at large. To date, however, most school-
based physical activity interventions have focused on elementary schools, and on physical education, active
recess, and after-school sports programs (i.e., the leisure domain), with less emphasis on active transportation
promotion, despite the relatively high independent mobility of middle school students. Further, most
environmental strategies to promote physical activity do not include in-depth community-engagement methods,
although these approaches can help optimize their contextual responsiveness, effectiveness, and
sustainability; and align with the principles of health equity and social justice. We propose a 2-phase, rigorous
mixed methods study to identify community-level barriers and facilitators for active transport and leisure
physical activity (Phase 1); and to co-create and test the effectiveness and longer-term sustainability of
community-based physical activity intervention strategies (Phase 2) in urban, low-income, minoritized middle
school catchment areas. Our team includes researchers and community-based partners with expertise in
participatory research and extensive knowledge and connections with local communities. Our aims are (1) to
identify community-level barriers and facilitators for physical activity in low-income, urban middle school
communities with high proportions of minoritized residents, using a comprehensive mixed methods approach
(a blended Delphi survey plus Group Concept Mapping method, and quantitative plus qualitative/participatory
GIS methods); (2) to equitably engage multi-sectoral and multi-generational community actors for co-creating
(co-design, co-implementation and co-evaluation) contextually-responsive intervention strategies to improve
equity in access to active transport and leisure in low-income, urban middle school communities with high
proportions of minoritized residents; and (3) to conduct ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10884775
- **Project number:** 1R01MD019423-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** DEANNA MARIE HOELSCHER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $992,628
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-05-17 → 2028-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10884775

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10884775, Co-creating and implementing contextually responsive physical activity interventions with low-income adolescents (1R01MD019423-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10884775. Licensed CC0.

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