Chapter 2 Changing Physical Activity

Behaviour: The Social-Ecological Model

The Social-Ecological
Model
Learning Intention (from study design):
Key Knowledge: Components of social-ecological model
(individual, social environment, physical environment and
policy). The relationship between the multiple levels of
influence and physical activity.

Key Skills: Identify the components of the socialecological model. Apply the social ecological model to
critique physical activity strategies used by government
and non-government organisations to target two
subpopulation groups.

The Social-Ecological Model

Social-Ecological Model

The social-ecological model is a dynamic way

of representing the factors that influence an
individuals physical activity levels. It
recognises that many interrelated factors
affect behaviour in a complex manner.
Individual's surroundings play a particularly
significant role. Policy at both government and
organisation levels is responsible for directing
the implementation of changes to individual,
social and physical environments.

Social-Ecological Model
The model is comprised of four distinct but interactive
(interrelate) components which impact upon each other.
The model depicts a series of overlapping circles, showing
that human behaviour is not only determined by the
values and decisions of the individual.

The Individual Level

The individual is at the centre of the
model. This level includes personal
factors that influence the likelihood
of physical activity. Individual
aspects that help determine the
amount of physical activity
someone may undertake include:

Individual Factors
Knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, perceived
barriers, motivation, enjoyment and self-efficacy.
Skills (including fundamental motor skills and
sport specific skills), abilities and disabilities or
injuries.
Age and Gender
Level of education
Socio-economic status
Employment status

Individual Factors

Strategies used at the individual

level to promote physical activity:
Print and web based media in the form of brochures,
booklets and handouts that may be found at schools,
rec centres and health-care providers and twitter,
facebook, email etc.
Counselling, usually by a health professional which
can be very effective, personal trainer, teacher or
physical activity adviser.
Anything that targets the individual factors such as
perceived barriers could be overcome with reminder
systems, socio-economic factors can be overcome
with reduced costs, self efficacy with a safe training
environment.

Strategies used at the

individual level to promote
physical activity:
Cognitive strategies include: Increasing
awareness, Comprehending benefits, Risk
awareness, Consequence
awareness(negative role modelling), Finding
opportunities(to be active, schedule)
Behavioural Strategies include: Reminder
systems, Social support to decrease social
isolation, Contracting (setting goals,
punishment), Rewards,
Improvisation(treadmill when raining)

Social Environment
Surrounding the individual in the socialecological model is the social environment.
The social environment comprises the
relationships, the culture and the society with
whom the individual interacts.
The social environment has a significant
influence on physical activity behaviour. For
example, having someone such as a peer,
family member or work colleague to be
physically active with can impact on physical
activity behaviour.

The social environment

includes:
Family, such as the influence of parental and sibling physical
activity levels and family support
Spouse or partner
Peers
Institutions and organisations, such as schools, workplaces
and community organisations
Access to social support networks versus social isolation
Influence of health and other professionals such as doctors,
teachers and coaches
Community norms
Cultural background
Socioeconomic status of the community

Social Environment

Social Environment
Strategies
Strategies which bring change at the social
environment level include community
education, support groups, peer programs,
workplace incentives and social marketing
campaigns. These are used to promote
positive community attitudes and awareness
to participation in physical activity.
E.g. Work sport teams, walking clubs,
community activity groups such as active
mothers.

Physical Environment
Physical activities take place in physical environments. The
physical environment includes the natural environment and
the built(or constructed) environment.
Physical environments provide prompts for physical
activity, but can also deter people from being active. Poorly
maintained infrastructure is likely to be a barrier to physical
activity, but well maintained resources where people feel
safe and comfortable increase the chance of an individual
being physically active. Furthermore, from positive physical
environments, social groups often sprout and flourish. For
example, a new walking track may lead to an increase of
walking groups, resulting in more support for the individual.

The physical
environment includes:
Natural factors, such as weather or geography.
Availability and access to facilities, such as parks and
playgrounds.
Attractiveness of facilities or the natural environment.
Safety issues, such as crime rates or danger levels of
roads.
Urban design, such as connectivity of streets to town
facilities.
Public transport access and connectivity.

Physical Environment

Physical Environment
Strategies
The built environment provides opportunities for intervention,
such as the inclusion of walking or bicycle tracks and parks in
new housing developments and ease of access to them. The
natural environment has fewer opportunities for intervention;
these tend to focus on overcoming barriers to physical activity
within the natural environment.

Making changes in the natural environment generally involves

adapting to it. An example of such a change would be
building of ice-skating rinks in cold environments to
accommodate for the lack of sports. Strategies focusing on
the physical environment usually should be put in place
before educational or community awareness initiatives are
attempted.

Physical Environment
Strategies Contd
Workplace- putting in showers so staff can get changed
after active travel to work, bike racks.
School having access to oval or school gym
Community safe walking tracks with equipment, bike
paths, boat ramps.

Policy Level
This refers to legislation, regulatory or
policy making actions that have the
potential to affect physical activity. These
are often formal legal actions taken by
local, state or federal governments but
can also be informal local policies or
rules in settings such as schools or work
places.

Policy Factors
Urban Planning
Transport networks
Education policies, such as mandating time
for PE classes.
Health policies
Environmental policies
Workplace policies
Funding

Policy

Policy
Policies are behind almost every change.
Therefore, be selective when choosing a policy
level strategy. Does it require planning or funding?
What sort of language is used? Key words such as
implement, organise, and enforce are often hints
for policy type changes.
Policy examples include:
Workplace- Subsidised gym memberships, flexible work
hours for those that use active travel to work, walk and
talk meetings.
School designated areas for year levels, handing out
equipment at lunch, mandated PE lessons.
Community Urban planning policies, safe zones around
parks,

Using the Model

The model can be used to help us
understand a specific problem in a
particular setting or context. It allows us
to identify factors related to physical
activity participation in specific
populations. The study design stipulates
that you are to identify the components
of the model and use it to critique
(evaluate) intervention strategies aimed
at two-sub population groups.

Using the Model

Some of these population sub-groups
may include:
Age or gender groups
Communities, workplace or schools
Groups with health conditions, such as
diabetes or obesity
At risk groups, such as people with
disabilities or people from ethnic and
racial minorities.

Using the Model

When critiquing you are looking at the likely
effectiveness of an intervention strategy and the
social-ecological model must be used as the bases
of your critique. So it would be wise to break things
down using the four levels. These levels do not
stand alone but rather interact with each other,
and therefore should be discussed in conjunction
with each other at some stage in your answer. It is
important to note the interrelationship between the
levels and that the more levels targeted the more
likely a initiative or strategy will succeed in
changing physical activity levels.

Exam Questions........