The Effects of Play Streets on Social and Community Connectedness in Rural Communities.

M Renée Umstattd Meyer,Cynthia K Perry,Christina N Bridges Hamilton,Keshia M Pollack Porter,Christiaan G Abildso,Tyler Prochnow,Andrew C Pickett

doi:10.3390/ijerph18199976

Abstract

Promoting physical activity (PA) is a long-standing public health initiative to improve overall health and wellbeing. Innovative strategies such as Play Streets, temporary activation of public spaces to provide safe places for active play, are being adopted in urban and rural communities to increase PA among children. As part of these strategies, aspects of social and community connectedness may be strengthened. This study analyzes focus groups and interviews from rural Play Street implementation team members (n = 14) as well as adults (n = 7) and children (n = 25) who attended Play Streets hosted in rural North Carolina, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Texas to better understand the added benefits of Play Streets in community connectedness. Overall, elements of social support and social cohesion are mentioned most frequently with instrumental and conditional support; however, concepts of social capital, collective-efficacy, and social identification are also presented. Participants expressed that Play Streets provided more than just PA; they provided opportunities to access and share resources, build perceptions of safety and trust in the community, and develop relationships with others. Fostering community connection through Play Streets may reduce health inequities in rural communities by building community resilience. Community-based PA programming that enhance and capitalize on community connectedness could be effective ways to improving the overall health and wellbeing of residents.

Highlights

Physical activity (PA) and active play are lauded for their numerous physical, social, and mental health benefits for children [1,2,3,4]
This study focuses on five main constructs of social and community connectedness as it relates to Play Streets: social cohesion, social identification, social capital, collective-efficacy, and social support
To summarize briefly, during 2017 four partner organizations located in diverse low-income, rural communities (rural-urban commuting area (RUCA) code greater than or equal to 4.0) [59] across the U.S were recruited based on experience implementing community events and willingness to implement Play Streets

Summary

Introduction

Physical activity (PA) and active play are lauded for their numerous physical, social, and mental health benefits for children [1,2,3,4]. Active play encompasses many concepts but can be conceptualized as creative activity in which children are physically active and is often unstructured [1]. Children are recommended to be physically active for a minimum of 60 minutes each day for health benefits [6]. Research suggests that children may play outside less than previous generations [7]. In rural communities, children face barriers to participating in PA and active play, namely few safe PA resources, decreased walkability or active transportation opportunities, long distances to resources, 4.0/)

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