Creating Active Schools: What Influences Continuous Implementation Following Adoption?

Abstract

Background: Evidence on the long-term implementation and sustainability of whole-school physical activity programs remains limited. The Creating Active Schools (CAS) program incorporated the CAS Framework to support schools to focus on organizational and cultural change for physical activity. This study evaluates the medium-term implementation of CAS, after 2 academic years.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive approach was employed. After 2 years of implementation, 35 participants from 30 Bradford schools, including school staff, CAS Champions, and Bradford CAS locality leads took part in semistructured focus groups. Thematic analysis followed a codebook method, combining inductive, data-driven insights with deductive themes based on McKay et al's implementation evaluation roadmap, and aligned to the Consolidated Framework Implementation Research.

Results: The program increased the reach compared with the first year, with more staff buying into CAS and gaining confidence as advocates of physical activity. Schools shifted from creating new initiatives to embedding and sustaining previous efforts, and some schools required repeated doses to reinstate CAS as a priority where there had been high staff turnover or superficial initial buy-in. Core components of CAS that mitigated negative influences from the wider educational system, included peer-to-peer learning, and inter and intraknowledge exchange arising from the communities of practice. Collectively, these factors contributed to the combined agency within the school to implement CAS.

Conclusions: The medium-term implementation of whole-school physical activity programs is contingent on understanding the broader educational context and system influences. This study underscores the importance of communities of practice and supportive structures in sustaining school-based physical activity initiatives.