Physical activity provides important health benefits across the lifespan, as documented in authoritative reports including the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Yet most Americans do not meet recommended levels of physical activity. Bridging the gap between evidence-based physical activity recommendations and their implementation in practice remains an important priority to improve the health of all people.
Although physical activity research gaps and opportunities have been documented, they are dispersed across multiple reports and resources, making it difficult for researchers, practitioners, funders, and policymakers to navigate the landscape and identify priorities for action. To address this challenge, NCCOR developed the Physical Activity Research Opportunities (PARO) framework, which consolidates opportunities from disparate sources into a single, organized resource to support the development and coordination of physical activity research agendas.
What is the PARO framework?
The PARO framework organizes 385 physical activity research opportunities from 11 sources into a cohesive structure that helps users navigate the physical activity research landscape. Developed through a systematic review and analysis of existing reports, guidelines, and other publications released since 2012, the framework groups related research opportunities and organizes them by translational research phase and social ecological level.
The framework covers six phases of translational research: methods and measures development, etiology, efficacy, effectiveness, dissemination and implementation, and surveillance. It also categorizes opportunities by social ecological level: individual and interpersonal, policy, systems, and environmental (PSE), and crosscutting approaches. This structure helps users identify opportunities across different stages of research and levels of intervention, from understanding the factors that influence physical activity to supporting their implementation in real-world settings.
Together, these elements provide a structured overview of the physical activity research landscape and help users identify areas where additional research and coordinated action may be needed.
How can the PARO framework be used?
The PARO framework provides a clear pathway to strategically advance physical activity research by helping users:
- Identify priority areas for future funding and grant proposals.
- Inform policy development, including updates to national guidelines.
- Strengthen cross-sector collaboration among public health, planning, education, and clinical partners.
- Build research agendas that better incorporate community voices and account for disparities.
By organizing opportunities for physical activity research into a single resource, the PARO framework offers researchers, funders, practitioners, and policymakers a roadmap to more efficiently prioritize and coordinate their efforts, ultimately accelerating progress towards increasing physical activity at the population level.
Access the PARO framework here.