These public involvement and engagement events, held in November and December 2024, were part of the new partnership between The Partick Annexe and the University of Glasgow to share an exciting NIHR funded project called 'A case study of physical activity by the Partick Communiversity'.

The aim was for the University of Glasgow research community, particularly the team involved in the study, to meet with people from Partick to share thoughts and ideas on physical activity plans, and to recruit people to train as peer researchers in the project.

The event was a collaboration between The Partick Annexe, led by Jane Cowie, and the University of Glasgow, led by Tracy Ibbotson.

To facilitate discussion there was a short introduction to the research on the impact of physical activity and the importance of Public and Patient involvement. The speakers were:

  • Professor Jason Gill/Dr Bhautesh Jani - How can exercise have a positive impact?
  • Jane Cowie - What activities are in The Annexe?
  • Professor Sara MacDonald/Susan Grant - Byres Community Hub and peer research
  • Dr Tracy Ibbotson - Get involved in the Communiversity project

This was followed by discussions around the benefits of moving more and how people can get involved in the project.

Around 30 people took part in the discussions including the event team. Key points in the discussion were covered by visual art and are summarised below. Those attending were asked at the end of the event to sign up for more information about the project. From the feedback we know that some participants wanted to take part in the study or train as a peer researcher.

Pen drawings about the benefits of and barriers to physical activity in Partick

Question 1: What are the benefits of moving more?

  • What counts as exercise?
  • What level of exercise gets benefits?
  • How can you build into daily activities?
  • Do activities like housekeeping and shopping count?
  • It can reduce social isolation
  • What about the importance of diet?
  • Big benefits of going from nothing to something

Question 2: How you can get involved in the project

  • How do you build motivation?
  • What about the importance of diet?
  • There are better ways than surveys to find out what people really do
  • Look at the impact of Covid
  • People see the benefits of physical activity differently

 Key outputs

  • 15 people has signed up to train as peer researchers
  • 4 people have signed up to participate in the study
  • 4 groups from The Annexe could participate in the study i.e. Dreams, Cost of Living, Yoga and Jazzercise

Following on from this initial discussion, the University will provide the peer researchers from Partick with four research training sessions. They will then work with the University to design and conduct a case study of physical activity levels among people in Partick. The team will produce a physical activity plan for improving physical activity levels in Partick and also produce a toolkit for developing Communiversity like projects in other locations.

If you would like to be kept up to date with these developments please contact:
tracy.ibbotson@glasgow.ac.uk

 

 

First published: 27 January 2025

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