Keywords
equity-centered
scoping review
social ecological model
social justice
physical activity disparity
active living
How to Cite
Abstract
Lee and Cubbin’s (2009) call for a “socially-just” ecological model of physical activity (EMPA) prompted an inquiry into physical activity (PA), active living (AL) research that advances social justice framed as a set of equity-centered principles for research. In response to the call, we conducted a scoping review to explore how PA research has operationalized equity to advance a “socially-just” EMPA. We searched for original research, published between 2010 and 2020, using key terms ‘physical activity’ and ‘equity’ that produced 5,152 non-duplicated records. Title-abstract screening for exclusion/inclusion criteria disqualified 4,392 records. A review protocol and coding guide was developed, piloted, and revised by team members. The remaining 760 abstracts were reviewed and consensus coded by PA Variable (dependent or independent) and Factor (individual outcome or contextual-exposure), Equity (population demographic or social-environmental determinant), and Social Ecological Milieu (SEM) (PAAL-specific or SEM-general policy, system, or environment (PSE) operations. Of the 463 studies selected, PA codified as an individual outcome (67%) more often than as a contextual-exposure (33%) factor. Equity codified more frequently as a population demographic (69%) rather than as a social-environmental determinant (31%). The SEM codified as PAAL-specific (44%) or as SEM-general (56%) PSE factors. Based on multistep study abstract reviews, the selected studies more often missed the opportunity to center equity in PA research by examining social, environmental, political, and systemic factors as institutionalized inequities at the root of PAAL disparities. We will not achieve a “socially-just” EMPA without shared conceptualizations of equity followed by intentional action.
References
Andress, L., & Purtill, M. P. (2020). Shifting the gaze of the physician from the body to the body in a place: A qualitative analysis of a community-based photovoice approach to teaching place-health concepts to medical students. PloS one, 15(2), e0228640.
Arksey, H., & O'Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 19-32.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. The American Psychologist, 32(7), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.32.7.513
Cardinal, B. (2022). Kinesiology's social justice imperative. Kinesiology Review; 11(1):1-5.
Galster, G. C. (2011). The mechanism (s) of neighbourhood effects: Theory, evidence, and policy implications. In Neighbourhood effects research: New perspectives (pp. 23-56). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
Golden, S. D., & Earp, J. A. L. (2012). Social ecological approaches to individuals and their contexts: twenty years of Health Education & Behavior health promotion interventions. Health Education & Behavior, 39(3), 364-372.
Graves Jr, J. L., Kearney, M., Barabino, G., & Malcom, S. (2022). Inequality in science and the case for a new agenda. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(10), e2117831119.
Hasson, R. E., Brown, D. R., Dorn, J., Barkley, L., Torgan, C., Whitt-Glover, M., Ainsworth, B., & Keith, N. (2017). Achieving equity in physical activity participation: ACSM experience and next steps. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 49(4), 848–858. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001161
Honeycutt, S., Leeman, J., McCarthy, W. J., Bastani, R., Carter-Edwards, L., Clark, H., ... & Kegler, M. (2015). Evaluating Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change Interventions: Lessons Learned From CDC's Prevention Research Centers. Preventing Chronic Disease, 12(10), E174.
Hornbuckle, L. M. (2021). Running while Black: A distinctive safety concern and barrier to exercise in White neighborhoods. Preventive Medicine Reports, 22, 101378.
Ingram, M., Leih, R., Adkins, A., Sonmez, E., & Yetman, E. (2020). Health disparities, transportation equity and complete streets: A case study of a policy development process through the lens of critical race theory. Journal of Urban Health, 97, 876-886.
Irons, J. (2019). Shifting the Lens: Why Conceptualization Matters in Research on Reducing Inequality. William T. Grant Foundation.
Juarez, P., Matthews-Juarez, P., Hood, D., Im, W., Levine, R., Kilbourne, B., Langston, M. A., Al-Hamdan, M. Z., Crosson, W. L., Estes, M. G., Estes, S. M., Agboto, V. K., Robinson, P., Wilson, S., & Lichtveld, M. (2014). The public health exposome: A population-based, exposure science approach to health disparities research. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11(12), 12866–12895. https://doi. org/10.3390/ijerph111212866
Kramer, M.R., Kania, J. & Senge, P. (2018). The Water of Systems Change. Report, FSG, May.
Krieger, N. (2001). Theories for social epidemiology in the 21st century: An ecosocial perspective. International Journal of Epidemiology, 30(4), 668-677. doi:10.1093/ije/30.4.668
Kozlowski, D., Lariviẻre, V., Sugimoto, C. R., and Monroe-White, T. (2022). Intersectional inequalities in science. PNAS; January 4; 119(2) e2113067119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113067119
Lee, R. E., & Cubbin, C. (2009). Striding toward social justice. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 37(1), 10–17. https://doi.org/10.1097/jes.0b013e318190eb2e
Lee, R. E., Joseph, R. P., Carr, L. T. B., Strayhorn, S. M., Faro, J. M., Lane, H. G., Monroe, C. M., Pekmezi, D., & Szeszulski, J. (2021). Still striding toward social justice? Redirecting physical activity research in a post-COVID-19 world. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 11(6), 1205–1215. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibab026
Lewin, K. (1997). Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. (Original work published in 1951).
Lindhult, E. (2022), "The movement toward knowledge democracy in participatory and action research", Roij, A.B. (Ed.) Transformative Research and Higher Education, Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 107-128. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-694-120221006
Malloy, J., Ashcraft, C., Kirshen, P., Safford, T., Aytur, S., Rogers, S. (2022). Implementing just climate adaptation policy: An incremental analysis of recognition, framing, and advocacy coalitions in Boston, U.S.A. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities; 4; Nov. 21, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2022.928230
Marmot, M., Friel, S., Bell, R., Houweling, T. A., & Taylor, S. (2008). Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health. The Lancet, 372(9650), 1661-1669. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61690-6
McLeroy, K. R., Bibeau, D., Steckler, A., & Glanz, K. (1988). An ecological perspective on health promotion programs. Health Education Quarterly, 15, 351–377.
Milner, H. R., IV. (2007). Race, culture, and researcher positionality: Working through dangers seen, unseen, and unforeseen. Educational Researcher, 36(7), 388–400. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X07309471
Munn, Z., Peters, M. D. J., Stern, C., Tufanaru, C., McArthur, A., & Aromataris, E. (2018). Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0611-x
Peters, M. D., Godfrey, C. M., Khalil, H., McInerney, P., Parker, D., & Soares, C. B. (2015). Guidance for conducting systematic scoping reviews. International Journal of Evidence-based Healthcare, 13(3), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.1097/XEB.000000000000005
Piercy, K. L., Troiano, R. P., Ballard, R. M., Carlson, S. A., Fulton, J. E., Galuska, D. A., George, S. M., & Olson, R. D. (2018). The physical activity guidelines for Americans. JAMA, 320(19), 2020–2028. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.14854
Sallis, J. F., Cervero, R.B., Ascher, W., Henderson, K.A., Kraft, M.K., Kerr, J. (2006) An ecological approach to creating active living communities. Annual Review of Public Health, 27, 297–322. doi: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.27.021405.102100
Sallis, J. F., Owen, N., & Fisher, E. B. (2008). Ecological models of health behavior. In K. Glanz, B. K. Rimer, & K. Viswanath (Eds.), Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Sallis, J. F., & Owen, N. (1997). Ecological models. In K. Glanz, F. M. Lewis, & B. K. Rimer (Eds.), Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice (2nd ed.) (pp. 403–424). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Santos, F., Newman, T.J., Aytur, S.A., Farias, C. (2022). Aligning physical literacy with critical positive youth development and student-centered pedagogy: Implications for today's youth. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 4, 845827. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2022.845827
Schrecker, T. (2013). Can health equity survive epidemiology? Standards of proof and social determinants of health. Preventive Medicine, 57(6), 741–744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.08.013
Schuppert, F. & Wallimann-Helmer, I. (2014). Environmental inequalities and democratic citizenship: Linking normative theory with empirical research. Analyse & Kritik, 36(2), 345-366. https://doi.org/10.1515/auk-2014-0208
Scott, W. R., & Meyer, J. W. (1994). Institutional Environments and Organizations: Structural Complexity and Individualism. Sage.
Spence, J., & Lee, R. E. (2003). Toward a comprehensive model of physical activity. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 4(1), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1469-0292(02)00014-6
Stokols, D. (1992). Establishing and maintaining healthy environments: Toward a social ecology of health promotion. American Psychologist, 47(1), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.47.1.6
Venkateswaran, N., Feldman, J., Hawkins, S., Lewis, M. A., Armstrong-Brown, J., Comfort, M., Lowe, A., & Pineda, D. (2023). Bringing an Equity-centered Framework to Research: Transforming the Researcher, Research Content, and Practice of Research. RTI Press Publication No. OP-0085-2301. Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI Press. doi: 10.3768/rtipress.2023.op.0085.2301
Wallack, L. (2019). Building a social justice narrative for public health. Health Education & Behavior, 46(6), 901-904. doi:10.1177/1090198119867123
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2023 Deborah John, Lauri Andress, Semra Aytur, Tina Dodge, Jeanette Gustat, Clare Schuchardt-Vogt, Rebecca E. Lee