Co-designing a local public open space with children from a deprived neighborhood: A RE-AIM evaluation

Objective: Knowledge on how to improve public open spaces in deprived neighbourhoods to increase active living among children is scarce and comprehensively evaluated public open space interventions are needed. Firstly, the aim was to explore if co-creating installations in a public open space in a deprived neighbourhood with local fifth-grade children (11-12-years-old) influenced their use of this space. Secondly, we wanted to explore if RE-AIM was a useful evaluation framework for evaluating a built environment intervention. To our knowledge this has never been done before.
Methods: Thirty-nine children participated in 12 workshops during their art and craft classes from January to June 2017. Three installations were developed and built together with the children: a boxing pavilion, a 7-meter-high tower, and big nets. The evaluation was conducted in the pre- and post-intervention phase using a convergent mixed-methods triangulation design to capture all RE-AIM dimensions. We used survey data and archival records to assess Reach. Accelerometers, GPS and survey data from the children were used to assess Effectiveness and interviews with children, teachers and designers were used to assess Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance. All survey, accelerometer and GPS data were analysed using descriptive analyses and interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: Findings revealed that on average, children spent 15 minutes more in the space post-intervention. However, the space was used fewer days and by fewer children, being less physically active after the intervention. Most children never used the space during recess (89.6%), class hours (79.3%), nor after school or during weekends (65.5%). Using the RE-AIM framework, the adoption, implementation and maintenance dimensions of the project helped explain these results. Our research highlighted challenges associated with how the children were involved and showed a lack of maintenance after the intervention ended.
Conclusions: To avoid this, future built environmental projects should be systematically and comprehensively designed and evaluated using an evaluation framework integrated from the beginning of the project. Our study suggests that the RE-AIM framework could be a useful tool for such evaluations of built environment interventions.