Informing Practice for the Development and Dissemination of Physical Activity Messages Targeting Parents of Children with Disabilities

Children with disabilities (CWD) engage in less physical activity (PA) compared to children without disabilities. There has been a call to develop evidence-informed strategies to promote PA among CWD. Considering that parent support is one of the strongest correlates of PA among CWD, it is important to develop strategies that can promote parent support for PA through message development and dissemination. At a high level, this dissertation is guided by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the multi-process action control (M-PAC) model. Phase 1 utilized a pre-post quantitative design to examine the effects of various PA messages on psychosocial antecedents of support for PA and self-reported parent support for PA among parents of CWD. Baseline parent support acted as a moderator on the effects of messages on attitudes toward child PA, subjective norms toward child PA, subject norms toward parent support for PA, and planning. Parents preferred the inclusive message most. Phase 2 utilized a systematic scoping review guided by the framework for knowledge transfer to identify strategies that can inform practices regarding the development and dissemination of PA messages. Strategies unique to parents of CWD were identified for message development (e.g., targeting salient barriers) and dissemination (e.g., utilizing preferred sources). Phase 3 addressed the lack of targeted information for parents of CWD highlighted in Phase 2. A mHealth program was developed to disseminate targeted messages to encourage planning for PA support among parents of CWD. Utilizing qualitative methodologies (i.e., thematic analysis) and informed by the PRACTical planning for Implementation and Scale-up (PRACTIS) guide, Phase 3 identified facilitators (e.g., user-friendly interface) and barriers (e.g., too much information) to the implementation of the mHealth program. Results also identified suggestions for implementation improvement (e.g., quick reminders and condensed information) as well as credible organizations to support implementation (e.g., local organizations). This research collectively advances the understanding of the development and dissemination of PA messages targeting parents of CWD. The results of this research offers strategies to inform PA message practices to enhance support for PA among parents of CWD.