Collective Intelligence for the Collective Effort in improving implementation of fundamental movement skill interventions

Background: To have population-level impact, physical activity (PA) interventions must be effectively implemented and sustained under real-world conditions. Adequate Fundamental Movement Skill (FMS) is integral to children’s PA participation. Yet, few FMS interventions have been implemented at scale due to the insufficient understanding of influences on implementation. Purpose: The study used Collective Intelligence (CI) —an applied systems science approach—with stakeholder groups to understand barriers to implementing FMS interventions, interdependencies between these barriers, and options to overcome the system of barriers identified. Methods: Three CI sessions were conducted with three separate groups of experienced FMS intervention researchers/practitioners (n=22) in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Participants generated and ranked barriers they perceive most critical in implementing FMS interventions. Each group developed a structural model describing how highly ranked barriers are interrelated in a system. Participants then conducted action mapping to solve the problem based on the logical relations between barriers reflected in the model. Results: The top ranked barriers (of 76) are those related to policy, Physical Education curriculum, and stakeholders’ knowledge and appreciation. As reflected in the structural model, these barriers have influences over stakeholders’ efficacy in delivering and evaluating interventions. According to this logical structure, 38 solutions were created as a roadmap to inform policy, practice, and research. The roadmap suggests implementation efforts need to be coordinated, and a policy or local infrastructure that supports these efforts is needed. Conclusions: The current study provides a powerful template (CI process) and design framework (roadmap) for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in the PA field to operationalise future projects in more systemic and relational terms.