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Category: Project

Description: England Netball (EN), with the National Federation Women’s Institute (NFWI) has developed a Walking Netball (WN) programme for adult women. The programme will be delivered across England from March 2018 until December 2020. We will evaluate, and provide additional learning for the WN programme. As such, the overall aims of the proposed research are: 1. To evaluate the effectiveness of Walking Netball in reaching inactive adult females and helping them become active, increase their activity levels and motivation to sustain participation 2. To evaluate the impact of the programme on perceived mental and physical health, and objective physical performance outcomes 3. To evaluate the factors influencing the implementation of the Walking Netball programme and participation by inactive older women. The aims will be achieved by addressing the following objectives: • Assess uptake of the programme by WI members and the characteristics of participants • Assess changes in physical activity levels over a 12 month period • Assess the impact of the sources of social support on motivation and perceived loneliness of those participating in the programme • Assess changes in perceived mental and physical health outcomes, and objective physical performance outcomes • Assess participant satisfaction • Assess the uptake of the programme by WIs or WI Federations and the factors influencing uptake • Identify the key barriers and facilitators for implementing the programme and how this impacts on programme fidelity and adaptation • Identify barriers and facilitators for engagement, participation and adherence (and reasons for drop out) • Identify factors influencing the long-term sustainability of the programme in the WI.