Refining a College Student-Led Implementation Strategy Using Implementation Mapping in a Rural School

Many physical activity (PA) interventions have been designed, yet few are scaled up or sustained. Additional refinement of implementation strategies may improve adoption, implementation, and maintenance of PA interventions. One such intervention is Hoosier Sport, a sport-based program partnering with middle schools to increase youth PA engagement. The objective of the present study was to (1) retrospectively use an implementation mapping approach to identify determinants, compile methods of change, and evaluate outcomes and (2) to synthesize results of implementation mapping within the context of a pilot study of the Hoosier Sport implementation strategy. We conducted a retrospective study of Hoosier Sport using implementation mapping to iteratively develop a comprehensive implementation strategy. Implementation mapping occurred with a campus-community team composed of researchers, college students, and community partners. A pilot study of Hoosier Sport served as the input and exemplified retrospective use of implementation mapping in context. The process identified key strengths (e.g., high fidelity and program interest) and weaknesses (e.g., reproducibility of evaluation and training materials, limited theoretical rationale), and used them to pinpoint opportunities for refinement (e.g., integration of positive youth development into sport lessons, connecting theoretical constructs to performance objectives). Our findings demonstrate a pragmatic example of the utility of implementation mapping, while also contributing to the literature by providing a unique assessment of past research combined with future implementation planning.