Agenda Setting Process
In February 2016, PARC under took a 6-month planning process to develop a research agenda to identify important initial and future research studies to promote and ensure healthy weight and healthy levels of physical activity for at-risk youth.
Systematic literature reviews, an online survey, and discussions with leading public health practitioners, health equity experts, researchers in related disciplines, and relevant stakeholders provided guidance on key policy-relevant research questions. Based on the input, specific questions were prioritized to build evidence on effective strategies within priority topic areas related to physical activity in youth across race, cultural and economic groups.
PARC priority areas include:
- Pregnancy and maternal health
- Infant, child, adolescent development
- Behavioral economics
- Role of health care providers and the healthcare system
- Role of business and industry
- Out-of-school time
- Transportation, land use, urban design, and community settings
- Parks, recreation, trails and open space settings
- Racial/ethnic minority, lower-income populations, and people with disabilities, particularly those in rural and urban geographic areas
Diverse stakeholder input was synthesized, and semi-finalist research questions were scored based on key criteria to generate the final research agenda. The PARC team used the final research agenda to design targeted studies to address some of the priority questions with a focus on at-risk youth in urban and rural communities and with the potential to accelerate the movement from research through targeted dissemination to practice and policy.
Updating the Research Agenda
Our aim is to keep in touch with new priorities, initiatives, and questions from the field because these can inform interpretation of findings from PARC studies and future research questions. We look to you to help keep us abreast of important policy-relevant findings and gaps that will aid your work to make physical activity an everyday experience for all children. If you are interested in providing input, please contact the PARC Coordinating Center.
We will disseminate new research questions to the field via our social media and newsletter so be sure to follow us.