Lifelong Physical AcTivity TArgeting INequalities (ATTAIN): A Transformative Network for Healthy Ageing

Why is research in physical activity and inequality important for healthy ageing?
Average age in the UK population is continually increasing. Although we are living longer, many older individuals spend a large proportion of their later years in poor health and quality of life, which becomes more apparent in the poorest sectors of our society and minority ethnic communities. Physical activity is essential for healthy ageing, but evidence to support the health benefits of physical activity in socially deprived and ethnic minority groups, and the factors that prevent these communities from participating in physical activity, has been relatively overlooked. As a result, our capacity to develop effective and attainable physical activity interventions with the potential to extend healthy life expectancy in communities who experience health inequalities is limited.

What will we do?
Research, including at the University of Birmingham, clearly shows an urgent need for research to understand the health benefits of physical activity in poorer and minority ethnic communities and the barriers that these populations need to overcome to participate and adhere to physically active living. This proposal is for a research network that brings together people with different knowledge and backgrounds, to work together on this challenge and encourage physical activity research that targets health inequality.

What will this network look like?
The network will bring together researchers; academics from health, psycho-social, environmental sciences and beyond, with relevant healthcare professionals; policy makers; and voluntary sector organisations. Those who experience of health inequality will be at the heart of our network as leaders, partners and advisors. Network steer will be guided by an Expert Advisory Group and stakeholder representatives.

What is the network's main aim?
The network will address the central question:
How can we better understand the health benefits of physical activity in socially deprived and minority ethnic communities and overcome the challenges they face and improve their access to physically active living, so that they are able to spend more years in good health?
Our network will focus on two main themes:
1. Understanding the health benefits of physical activity in diverse and deprived UK communities by integrating molecular, cellular and population-level research approaches.
2. Identifying physical, environmental, cultural and psycho-social barriers to physical activity in diverse and deprived UK communities and solutions to ensure effectiveness and equity in physically active living in these populations.

How will this be done?
The network will:
- Fund and support small research projects in these areas, laying the groundwork for vital larger scale collaborations in this area.
- Undertake a range of activities including seminars, workshops, knowledge exchange events, interdisciplinary sandpits and writing retreats to bring people together across disciplines and sectors, increase interdisciplinary understanding, and foster two-way engagement and feedback amongst researchers and stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of the project.
- Foster the next generation of research scientists through access to funds for internships and other training and engagement opportunities.
- Run a dedicated website and engage audiences via social media to enable access and engagement with research and project findings throughout the lifecycle of the network and beyond.

Our vision is to see our network benefit socially deprived and ethnic minority commnunities, and influence policy makers and government bodies such as the Department of Health and Public Health England. We will do this by working closely with key organisations and communicating openly with all those who can make a difference to the wellbeing of our target communities to ensure our work has an impact locally, nationally and internationally.

Across two themes; i) Holistic health benefits of physical activity and ii) Barriers to physical activity, we aim to link across disciplines to develop research that can impact on the lives of those who experience healthy inequalities and improve policy around healthspan and quality of life in old age. Through the development and synthesis of innovative approaches, new understandings will then be applied to the following objectives:

- To strengthen capacity and capability for interdisciplinary research innovation with new national partners in order to address healthy life expectancy in communities who experience health inequality.
- To generate transformative frameworks (molecule to population-level approach) to capture how chronological ageing, multi-morbidity, cultural, environmental and psycho-social factors interact and impact on the holistic health benefits of physical activity across the life course.
- To conceptualize radical solutions that will transform thinking on how to address the physical, environmental and psycho-social barriers to physically active living, with specific focus on the socially deprived and minority ethnic communities in our society.
- To work with target communities to develop a novel paradigm of advocacy and co-production to help bring about transformational change in terms of effective and accessible physical activity. This will include building their capacity to influence and participate in research and the development of policy and practice.

To achieve these objectives, the Network will operate with a national and international reach. Network activities will include a dedicated website and social media, Workshop and Knowledge Exchange Events, Engagement Fellowships, Interdisciplinary Sandpit, Small Grant Funding, Writing Retreats (virtual) and a community-focused closing Event. External Advisory/Stakeholder Groups will provide steer to the core Network Team to ensure these objectives are realised.