The Maiden Voyage: Exploring the Multisectoral Partnership Process of Creating a Physical Literacy Enriched Community.

Abstract

Background: Understanding children interact with, and in, a wide range of contexts (home, school, and community) on a daily basis, interventions that are designed to address a combination of these contexts are critical to the development of physical literacy. To our knowledge, this is one of the first multicontextual and multisectoral physical literacy interventions delivered where the effects were measured and reported.

Methods: Given the uniqueness of this intervention, we sought to answer the question "What were the experiences of the individuals representing the multisectoral partnership involved in the process of creating a multicontextual physical literacy enriched community intervention?" Thematic analysis was used to analyze data collected from interviews, document analyses, and participant observation.

Results: The results identified key components, presented as 4 themes, to be considered in developing a successful partnership approach to creating a physical literacy enriched community, including alignment of strategies when working in a community, clear goals and expectations, strong communication and leadership, and transparency regarding capacity and commitment.

Conclusions: As this was one of the first multicontextual and multisectoral physical literacy interventions, it was important to document the experiences of creating the program to encourage future growth in physical literacy and multicontextual intervention strategies, as well as develop suggested best practices. By gaining a better understanding of strategies that did and did not work in this multisectoral partnership, we can begin to compile successful approaches for future efforts to create a physical literacy enriched community.