AUTHOR=Dysart Anna , Balis Laura E. , Daniels Bryce T. , Harden Samantha M. 

TITLE=Health Educator Participation in Virtual Micro-Credentialing Increases Physical Activity in Public Health Competencies

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.780618

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.780618

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Physical activity is an important component of leading a healthy life. Public health is one of the nine major sectors for disseminating information about physical activity and increasing the physical activity of the general public.</p><p><bold>Purpose:</bold> Increase competency among Cooperative Extension agents (i.e., public health workers) on selecting, delivering, and evaluating physical activity programs through a theory-based online training program.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Cooperative Extension agents from two states were invited to participate via statewide listservs. Participants were invited to attend sessions, complete competency checks, and between-session assignments each week. The study was conducted using a video conferencing platform. The intervention was 9 weeks from June to July 2020 and had 130 participants. Pre- and post-program surveys included physical activity competencies and validated scales for flourishing and physical activity status. Data for competencies pre and post were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01. Physical activity and flourishing pre and post were compared using <italic>t</italic>-tests, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Physical activity in public health competency increased significantly (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.00) as did agents' personal physical activity levels (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). Changes in flourishing were not significant (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.09) but trended in the hypothesized direction.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> The online competency-based training program significantly improved Cooperative Extension agents' knowledge of physical activity guidelines and physical activity program implementation. Future work is needed related to the scalability of the training program.</p>