The promotion of health trought physical activity activity in the French Riviera : Identification of policy factors and the development process ; Promotion de la santé par l'activité physique sur le territoire Azuréen : Identification des facteurs politiques et des processus de développement

Abstract

Policies are one of the key determinants which influence physical activity levels of the population and act structurally and sustainably within organizations, as well as environments where people live, work, move and play (Bauman et al., 2012, Golden et al, 2015). Effective Health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) policies need to be developed in systemic and intersectoral ways while being embedded into local ecosystems (De Leeuw et al., 2014, WHO, 2018, Rutter et al., 2020). However, most literature reports lack of solid evidence on the development of HEPA policies to inform and support local policymakers (Bull, 2018). Regarding the state of the literature, this thesis aims to contribute to knowledge on the development of local HEPA policies. Thus, this thesis hypothesis that there are some factors and process which influence and shape the development of HEPA policies in the French Riviera territory (i.e. Alpes-Maritimes and le Var). From this perspective, this thesis provided an overview of the emerging literature on the topic beginning with a scoping review (study 1). The first study also revealed that, currently, no standardized method to study local HEPA policies at the local level exists. Thus, a local HEPA framework analysis (i.e., CAPLA-Santé) was developed (study 2) to collect and study empirical data from 10 mid-sized municipalities in the French Riviera. The use of CAPLA-Santé with these municipalities provided an overview of the development of local HEPA policies in the French Riviera territory. Analysis of these policies made it possible to identify barriers, facilitators and opportunities to enhance their development and their effectiveness (study 3). In the same municipality samples, empirical data on the perceptions of local HEPA policies from elected officials and heads of departments from various sectors were collected (study 4). The analysis of this data contributed to the identification of barriers and facilitators of local HEPA policy development. Results from this study also suggest that ...