Using the R = MC2 heuristic to assess whole-of-school physical activity implementation in elementary schools: a cross-sectional study.
Background: Schools are recommended to use a whole-of-school (WOS) approach to promote physical activity opportunities before, during, and after school. Yet, the barriers and facilitators to implementing a WOS approach successfully are not well understood. The R = MC2 heuristic, which defines readin...
| Published in: | International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 1 - 9 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
BioMed Central
8/23/2025
|
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=187496673&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 187496673 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 14795868 1CR7 jtl: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity issn: 14795868 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 8/23/2025 vid: 22 iid: 1 pid: 24147 pub: BioMed Central artinfo: ui: 187496673 187496673 187496673 10.1186/s12966-025-01815-7 187496673 ppf: 1 ppct: 8 formats: tig: atl: Using the R = MC2 heuristic to assess whole-of-school physical activity implementation in elementary schools: a cross-sectional study. aug: au: Craig, Derek W. Lanza, Kevin Pfledderer, Christopher D. Pavlovic, Andjelka Onadeko, Kempson Heredia, Natalia I. Injil, Jizyah DeFina, Laura F. Walker, Timothy J. affil: https://ror.org/03gds6c39 Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, USA sug: subj: Physical Activity Schools, Elementary Health Promotion Exercise Education Implementation Science School Health Services Human United States Secondary Analysis Cross Sectional Studies Physical Education and Training Learning Environment Models, Theoretical Linear Regression Race Factors Ethnic Groups Leadership Organizational Culture Confidence Intervals Statistical Significance Data Analysis Software Descriptive Statistics Funding Source ab: Background: Schools are recommended to use a whole-of-school (WOS) approach to promote physical activity opportunities before, during, and after school. Yet, the barriers and facilitators to implementing a WOS approach successfully are not well understood. The R = MC2 heuristic, which defines readiness for implementation as a combination of an organization's motivation and capacity to implement, can enhance our understanding of implementation in the school setting. This study examines associations between constructs from the R = MC2 heuristic and schools' implementation of a WOS approach. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from U.S. elementary schools participating in the NFL PLAY60 FitnessGram Project during the 2022–23 school year. From surveys administered to school staff, we created a WOS index (range = 0–12) comprising six physical activity practices: physical education, recess, before and after-school programs, classroom-based approaches, and active transport. We also assessed how six constructs from the R = MC2 heuristic (i.e., culture, implementation climate, leadership, priority, resources utilization, resource availability) impact physical activity implementation using a series of questions measured on a 5-point Likert scale. We used linear regression models to determine associations between R = MC2 constructs (independent variables) and WOS index scores (dependent variable), controlling for school-level characteristics (student enrollment, percentage of race/ethnicity and economically disadvantaged students served) and state-level clustering. Results: The analytic sample consisted of 132 schools across 18 states. On average, school staff rated leadership (mean = 4.1, range = 1.5–5) and organizational culture (mean = 4.0, range = 2.25–5) the highest. The mean WOS index score was 6.1. Partially adjusted models indicated significant positive associations between each R = MC2 construct and WOS index scores. Fully adjusted regression models revealed priority (b = 0.88; p = 0.010; 95% CI = 0.19–1.56) and implementation climate (b = 0.69; p = 0.047; 95% CI = 0.07–1.32) were positively and significantly associated with WOS index scores. Conclusions: Our study provides insights into key implementation constructs associated with providing school-based physical activity opportunities. These findings can support the development of resources and implementation strategies which, in turn, can help schools address implementation-related disparities. This will help schools improve the quality and accessibility of opportunities for physical activity provided to students across the United States. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|