How Are Community Health Workers Trained to Deliver Physical Activity to Adults? A Scoping Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Purpose Community-based physical activity interventions are recommended because of increased reach and public health impact. To improve adult physical activity levels, access and availability of community-based interventions are needed, and delivery personnel must be trained to meet this need. However, there is a gap in the literature related to training and recruitment of the community health workers (CHW) who deliver these interventions to adults. The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of CHW who were trained to deliver in-person physical activity to adults, the structural and mechanistic components of physical activity trainings, and the effectiveness of these trainings. Methods A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted from November 2017 to January 2018. The review was limited to CHW training on adult physical activity delivery that reported reach, effect, or outcomes of training. The search was conducted in PubMed and EBSCOhost and included articles published from 1995 (coinciding with the release of the national physical activity guidelines) to December 2017. Results A total of 6651 peer-reviewed studies were identified, 205 full manuscripts were evaluated, and 7 articles met inclusion criteria and were analyzed. All studies reported the initial sample size of CHW trained; however, limited information on CHW personal characteristics was provided. The majority of studies reported that trainings were in-person with an average dose of 6 h. Four studies reported on training outcomes, with methods, measures, and outcomes varying widely. Conclusions There is inconsistent reporting on training across the literature, making comparisons between studies difficult and conclusions regarding training effectiveness difficult to discern. Further research is needed to understand for whom, under what conditions, and why physical activity trainings strategies are effective for CHW.