2025/06/21 by Kwan, Matthew, Kandasamy, Sujane, Konopaki, Jennifer +2
#Ethnic Minority #Immigrant #Newcomer #Racialized #Visible Minority
paper · doi:10.11575/prism/49466
Background: Newcomer children and youth have been found to have physical activity (PA) deficits when compared to Canadian-born peers. While the underlying reasons behind this is complex, the extant literature suggest that young newcomers to Canada face multiple unique barriers. The development of Community-Academic Partnerships (CAP) is considered vital towards creating meaningful system-level changes to address issues of access. The purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview (from both academic and community partner perspectives) of two innovative CAP initiatives aimed at creating better PA opportunities for newcomer children and youth. Methods/Approaches: (1) Using a participatory approach, we conducted a CIHR-funded summit that brought together a multidisciplinary and multisectoral group of academics and community leaders to identify needs and opportunities. (2) Using a mixed-methods approach, we evaluated the impact of an 8-week pilot physical literacy-based program called the (IPLAY) program – conducted in partnership with WinSport and Calgary Catholic Immigration Society. Results: The summit brought together a group of academics across Health Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, Kinesiology, and Education to hear the needs from community organizations looking to develop active programming for newcomers, identifying the need for more formative research, efficacy trials, and integrated knowledge translation strategies. Findings from the pilot IPLAY program with 36 refugee youths illustrates the potential positive impact of community programs targeting newcomer youths; although the process highlighted the saliency of community partnerships in recruitment and need for cultural responsiveness in program delivery. Conclusions: CAP is critical to address the PA deficits for newcomer children and youth.