PACT
- PARENTS AND CHILDREN TOGETHER
Better Beginnings Better Futures
South-East Ottawa
Summary Report
PACT - Parents and Children Together was developed to encourage
physical activity amongst children and their caregivers. The PACT
project followed an initiative called Play for Life which was developed
within the Better Beginnings Better Futures community to increase
the physical activity of preschool children. Focused physical activity
had not been a priority within the community until a research study
done by the Better Beginnings Better Futures Research Coordination
Unit (Kingston, Ontario) indicated that over one-fifth of four year
old children in the community were overweight by age four. This
did not mean that children living in the neighbourhoods were eating
too much overall or eating too much fat. Research findings using
a 24 hour dietary recall did not indicate this. Since children’s
fat intake was not excessive, an important factor to be considered
was physical activity. Play for Life was begun to explore and implement
innovative approaches to increasing physical activity and aptitude
in preschool children to promote optimal child development and life
long physical activity. The PACT program followed, building on Play
for Life successes and encouraging parents and caregivers to participate
in fun, safe physical activity with their children.
PACT began in January 2006. Funding was provided by the Ontario
Ministry of Health Promotion - ACTIVE 2010.
PACT partners:
South-East Ottawa Centre for a Healthy Community - served on the
project advisory committee and provided assistance with program
administration.
Albion/Heatherington Tenant’s Association - served on the
project advisory committee and provided consultation and space for
community programming.
Andrew Fleck Child Care Services - served on the project advisory
committee and assisted with program delivery including play in the
park activities and training.
City of Ottawa (Albion Heatherington Recreation Centre) - served
on the project advisory committee and provided space for activities.
Better Beginnings Better Futures, Ottawa, Ontario, - provided leadership
for the planning, implementation and evaluation of the program.
Summary
PACT - Parents and Children Together provides opportunities for
parents/caregivers and young children to be physically active together.
Parents and caregivers are encouraged to "Make a PACT with
your child" to get out, be physically active and have fun.
PACT is made up of various activities to be accessible to the wide
range of families living in the Better Beginnings neighbourhoods.
Specific activities are geared to pregnant women (and pregnant women
with other young children), and parents/caregivers with infants,
toddlers and preschoolers. Activities have included: Snuggle Moves
for pregnant women and women with young children which included
walks and gentle exercise on mats with infants; Walk With Me for
all parents/caregivers and children provided group walks and excursions
throughout the community; Get Active focused on in-door activities
for interactive physical activities between adults and young children
numerous times weekly; Home visits were provided to assist parents
with safe, fun activities within their home and Play in the Park
activities focused on seasonal outdoor acitvities for parents/caregivers
and children.
PACT programming is free of charge and available to any family
with a young child living in the Better Beginnings neighbourhoods,
supporting access and eliminating stigma. Programs are offered in
homes and in local indoor and outdoor neighbourhood spaces therefore
requiring no transportation and supporting easy access.
In-home visits connected with isolated families often providing
ideas that could be integrated into daily living. Initial in-home
visits identified isolated families that required additional support
to access programming outside the home. The PACT worker was available
to bring families to community programming and parks.
A flexible approach, creative ideas and individualized programming
when required respected cultural diversity, family settings and
physical ability. This supported a wider range of families accessing
and participating in the program.
While PACT programming was “focused” it did not “target”
specific families. Instead it was available to all children in the
Better Beginnings neighbourhoods ensuring that no child, parent
or family felt stigmatized.
In addition to activities for parents/caregivers and children,
PACT provided training to staff of both Better Beginnings and Andrew
Fleck Child Care Services to ensure staff and local in-home child
care providers could support safe, age appropriate, interactive
physical activities for children and adults.
Information flyers and newsletter inserts highlighted the importance
of physical activity and provided ideas for interactive physical
recreational and play activities.
Evaluation of the project indicates success. On a scale of 1 -
not at all, 3 - somewhat, 5 - completely, when asked "How satisfied
were you with the program?", 85% of respondents gave a rating
of 5, 10% a rating of 4 and 5% a rating of 3. Participant feedback
indicated that participants spent more time in physical activity
with their children after joining the PACT program with 60% (up
from 45% before being involved with the program) indicating that
they spent time daily in interactive physical activity with their
child(ren). When asked "Have you benefited from the program?"
95% gave a rating of 5 (completely) and 5% gave a rating of 3 (somewhat).
Evaluations from trainees at workshops were consistently excellent.
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