2. Having someone to go with
Healthy Living Initiative Project with Your Back Yard Student ID:
Your Back Yard (2018a) is a social enterprise that aims to improve the quality of life in disadvantaged communities in the North of England, such as introducing community regeneration programmes. This research project aimed to provide an evidence base for the Big Potential lottery funders. Their grant could finance new schemes promoting an active lifestyle in the LS6 area (Hyde Park, Woodhouse, Burley) in partnership with the Cardigan Centre (Figure 1). This is important because regular exercise can lessen the risk of long-term illnesses by 50% (NHS, 2015).
The Project
As discussed in the blog post written for Your Back Yard (2018b), student researchers went to the LS6 area and asked people to fill out the healthy living questionnaire (Figure 2). For example, questionnaires were completed outside the Continental Store in Hyde Park and the Oblong Centre in Woodhouse. This allowed the research to represent the demographic of people living in the LS6 area, which includes students and local people of different ages and ethnicities.
A focus group was also carried out with the parent support group at Rosebank School, which introduced qualitative data in research using quantitative questionnaires. This provided an insight into the concerns of mothers whose children did not have many opportunities to participate in sports and activities outside of school.
From a sample of 85 participants, this research shows that only 33% of people exercise two to three times a week. Additionally, 53% agreed that the LS6 area needs more easily accessible opportunities for people to exercise and engage in healthy activities. This suggests that healthy living initiatives would encourage more people to exercise more regularly. Additionally, 82% of people agreed that affordability was the most important factor that would convince them to engage in sports, followed by location (71%) and having someone to go with (61%) (Figure 3). Cycling was also the most popular kind of exercise that participants were interested in and would be likely to attend.
Recommendations and Contribution
This research has also revealed that 74% of people in the sample were not aware of the Cardigan Centre. Therefore, it is recommended that Your Back Yard work with the Cardigan Centre on this issue in order to raise their profile and make their activities known to the public. This can help to make the Cardigan Centre a more social place where people spend time together, so it will be easier to advertise the forthcoming healthy living schemes to local people.
This research is a useful contribution to the overall project as it adds to the evidence that will be presented to the lottery funders. It is important that as many people as possible completed the questionnaires under the time constraints in order to obtain a more representative sample of the population in LS6. Therefore, the data can be more accurate and reflect the needs and wants of the residents, and this can be translated into healthy living initiatives that they would want to join.
However, 78% of the sample presented in this poster were white and 71% were aged 50 and under. In this way, it is important to acknowledge that this sample does not represent the views and exercise habits of ethnic minorities and people over the age of 50 very well. In this way, the poster may not be representative of the overall data, but it does highlights that there is a need for healthy living schemes in LS6 and shows lack of awareness of the Cardigan Centre. These issues could be addressed with the help of the lottery funders.
Figure 1: Cardigan Centre (The Guardian, 2011)
Figure 2: Your Back Yard questionnaire
Factor
Percentage of people
Affordability 82
Location 71
Having someone to go with 61
Figure 3: Factors most likely to encourage people to engage in healthy activities
References
NHS Benefits of exercise. [Online]. [Accessed 24 April 2018]. Available from:
The Guardian Leeds' Cardigan Centre is celebrating its 21st birthday with a special event. [Online]. [Accessed 10 April 2018]. Available from:
Your Back Yard. 2018a. About Us. [Online]. [Accessed 10 April 2018]. Available from:
Your Back Yard. 2018b. News. [Online]. [Accessed 24 April 2018]. Available from: