Results at a glance: Evaluation of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Funding for ParticipACTION’s Let’s Get Moving Initiative

Program context

The objective of the Let's Get Moving Initiative is to increase physical activity levels for people living in Canada who are less active. It also aims to reach diverse groups that may experience health inequalities due to social or economic disadvantage, including newcomers and ethno-cultural groups, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQI+ groups, Indigenous groups, and older adults.

From 2017 to 2023, PHAC provided funding to ParticipACTION to coordinate and implement this Initiative in cooperation with community organizations, government bodies and corporate sponsors.

The Let's Get Moving Initiative includes:

1. public education campaigns
2. community events
3. national physical activity digital platform
4. thought leadership
5. partnerships and coordination

PHAC funding for ParticipACTION's Let's Get Moving Initiative: ~$5M/year from 2018 to 2023 (over $25M total).

PHAC funding is conditional on ParticipACTION matching the amount on a 1:1 ratio with cash or in-kind contributions.

Evaluation approach

This evaluation examined the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the PHAC's Funding for ParticipACTION's Let's Get Moving Initiative from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Methods

• Document and file review
• Comparative analysis
• Literature review
• Performance data review
• Key informant interviews

What the evaluation found

The Let's Get Moving Initiative has increased awareness and knowledge related to physical activity and helped some people get more active. However, it is not clear how much current interventions are engaging people who are less active, or if increases in physical activity are sustainable in the long term. Although the Initiative has increased its focus in recent years to reach diverse groups that may experience health inequalities, work remains to build on these efforts, while continuing to improve the public's physical activity levels.

Overall, the current delivery model appears to be appropriate. The ParticipACTION organization is a suitable funding recipient for initiatives like the Let's Get Moving Initiative due to its experience, reputation, expertise, and brand awareness. ParticipACTION has been able to secure a significant amount of matched funding through multi-sectoral partnerships, of which the majority are in-kind advertising and media value. Although this has enabled the Initiative to promote physical activity among the public, there are opportunities to build new partnerships and secure additional funding sources. Seizing these opportunities could enable the Initiative to better reach diverse groups and help improve their physical activity levels while improving the sustainability of the Initiative in the long term.

Finally, performance measurement data should be streamlined and improved as there were challenges with the data that made it difficult to report on the overall impact of activities, and the value for people living in Canada.

Recommendations

1. PHAC should require ParticipACTION to increase the focus of the Let's Get Moving Initiative on reaching diverse groups who may be experiencing health inequalities.
2. PHAC should encourage ParticipACTION to diversify its sources of funding and seek new funding partnerships to increase the potential for the Initiative to be sustained over time.
3. PHAC should streamline and improve the Let's Get Moving Initiative's performance measurement and reporting, with a focus on improving disaggregated data.