237 ’Ireland Lights Up’—evaluating the reach of a community walking initiative across GAA clubs in Ireland: an implementation science study
Nicola Briggs, Aisling McGrath, Niamh Murphy, Barry Lambe, Noel Richardson

TL;DR
This study evaluates the reach and impact of a community walking initiative in Ireland, focusing on how to improve participation among underserved groups.
Contribution
The study introduces a structured framework for increasing physical activity participation among marginalized populations through sports club settings.
Findings
The study will document community engagement levels in the walking initiative across diverse GAA clubs.
It will identify factors influencing reach to underserved and disadvantaged populations.
Findings will inform strategies to enhance participation in physical activity through sports clubs.
Abstract
‘Ireland Lights Up’ (ILU) is a community-based walking programme which runs in over 1000 Gaelic Athletic Clubs (GAA) in Ireland every January. It consists of clubs turning on their floodlights on a designated evening to facilitate group walking events around the perimeter of the playing fields. Formative research has indicated that ILU can potentially increase physical activity (PA) and social connectedness. As part of a broader study, this research aims to capture the impact of ILU in diverse community settings across Ireland by measuring its current reach in participating clubs and identifying the most viable implementation strategies to improve potential reach to underserved and disadvantaged populations. This phase of the research will provide a comprehensive overview of the demographics and behaviours of both participants and non-participants in ILU, exploring the factors…
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Taxonomy
TopicsResearch in Social Sciences · Interprofessional Education and Collaboration
