By Matthew Sims
Federation University and Casey Council have united to support South East women to become more physically active.
Through a series of workshops, researchers received a snapshot of the barriers to physical activity faced by local women and invited them to co-design sport and recreation solutions.
Participants identified the top four barriers to physical activity as cost, not having enough time, being unsure of what was available to them, and domestic and care responsibilities.
More than 75 women attended the workshops and researchers looked at survey data from 46 of the participants.
The participants ranged in age from 18 to 71, with 28 per cent with children under five years old and more than half from households that speak a language other than English.
On average, the women reported 107 minutes of leisure-time physical activity per week, below the recommendation of 150 minutes.
The research project brought together research expertise from Federation University’s Collaborative Evaluation Research Group (CERG) and Physical Activity and Sport Insights (PASI).
Federation University sport management senior lecturer Dr Meghan Casey said after unpacking the barriers women were experiencing, researchers asked them how they would design a program for themselves and the other women who were like them.
“It’s well known that women generally have lower physical activity participation rates than men, but the City of Casey is also a growth area and has a culturally diverse population, and we know their participation rates are lower,” she said.
“By having the women involved in the process of designing how the programs will look, how they should run, how much they should cost and these aspects, this will show us if that makes a difference in changing their behaviour.”
Among the women-designed physical activities were learn to swim classes, group-based exercises like yoga and Zumba, walking groups and social sports with a focus on affordability and child-friendly or childcare options.
The City of Casey has started looking at ways to implement the participants’ recommendations and once programs are rolled out, researchers would assess their effectiveness in getting more local women physically active later this year.
Casey Council community life acting director Angie Peresso said the council would develop and implement recreation programs to address the current barriers women and girls face across Casey.
“Council is proud to have partnered with Federation University on this research project to gain a better understanding of the physical activity needs of women and girls of Casey and the barriers they face when trying to exercise and connect to their local communities through recreation,” she said.
