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Chapter 26 Physical activity and citizen science: Two case studies from Flanders (Belgium)

  • Greet Cardon , Tom Storme , Sebastian Chastin , Sien Benoit , Bart De Wit , Delfien Van Dyck , Nico Van de Weghe , Frank Witlox and Katrien De Cocker
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Health, Media, and Communication
This chapter is in the book Health, Media, and Communication

Abstract

As the majority of the adolescent and adult population is insufficiently physically active and highly sedentary, the promotion of regular physical activity and less sedentary behavior is a key public health priority. This requires the development and implementation of effective communication strategies on physical activity and sedentary behavior guidelines to the general public. The most popular media for physical activity guidelines communication include policy documents, infographics, and mass media campaigns. Also more tailored health messages through m- and e-health have gained popularity. Another emerging and promising approach is communication through citizen science. The EU Citizen Science platform defines citizen science as “any activity that involves the public in scientific research and thus has the potential to bring together science, policy makers, and society as a whole in an impactful way”. Citizen science has been shown an effective way to reach and engage very large audiences, also in the field of public health. It may go beyond raising awareness by leveraging the power of the public as change agents in promoting health-enhancing conditions and potentially produce population health benefits. It may consequently be a better strategy to use mass media communication to promote citizen science participation. This chapter focuses on two health communication initiatives in relation to physical activity using a citizen science approach. The first case, the totem animal survey, focuses on a citizen science mass-experiment based on a playful online survey giving tailored messages about the users’ physical activity and sitting time. For this case we analyze the reach of this campaign and show that citizen science as part of a national science event is a good platform to communicate public health guidelines. In the second case we elaborate on the potential of the Bike Barometer platform, a novel approach to monitor home-to-school travel behavior of adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years. This platform provides critical feedback for policymakers (input regarding cycling safety), citizens (voice in mobility policy), and scientists (access to a huge dataset).

Abstract

As the majority of the adolescent and adult population is insufficiently physically active and highly sedentary, the promotion of regular physical activity and less sedentary behavior is a key public health priority. This requires the development and implementation of effective communication strategies on physical activity and sedentary behavior guidelines to the general public. The most popular media for physical activity guidelines communication include policy documents, infographics, and mass media campaigns. Also more tailored health messages through m- and e-health have gained popularity. Another emerging and promising approach is communication through citizen science. The EU Citizen Science platform defines citizen science as “any activity that involves the public in scientific research and thus has the potential to bring together science, policy makers, and society as a whole in an impactful way”. Citizen science has been shown an effective way to reach and engage very large audiences, also in the field of public health. It may go beyond raising awareness by leveraging the power of the public as change agents in promoting health-enhancing conditions and potentially produce population health benefits. It may consequently be a better strategy to use mass media communication to promote citizen science participation. This chapter focuses on two health communication initiatives in relation to physical activity using a citizen science approach. The first case, the totem animal survey, focuses on a citizen science mass-experiment based on a playful online survey giving tailored messages about the users’ physical activity and sitting time. For this case we analyze the reach of this campaign and show that citizen science as part of a national science event is a good platform to communicate public health guidelines. In the second case we elaborate on the potential of the Bike Barometer platform, a novel approach to monitor home-to-school travel behavior of adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years. This platform provides critical feedback for policymakers (input regarding cycling safety), citizens (voice in mobility policy), and scientists (access to a huge dataset).

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series V
  3. Contents IX
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section 1: Message senders
  6. Chapter 1 Creating trust in health organizations 11
  7. Chapter 2 Creating trust and understanding in doctor–patient relationships 31
  8. Chapter 3 Social media influencers for health promotion 49
  9. Chapter 4 Celebrity health narratives and the celebrity sick-scape 69
  10. Section 2: Message content
  11. Chapter 5 Fear appeals in health communication 91
  12. Chapter 6 Messaging and affect processing 109
  13. Chapter 7 Narratives in health communication 127
  14. Chapter 8 Entertainment-Education in the new media landscape: Stimulating creative engagement in online communities for social and behavioral change 147
  15. Chapter 9 The communication of uncertainty in health 169
  16. Chapter 10 Social norms in health communication 187
  17. Chapter 11 The impact of argument strength in health communication 213
  18. Chapter 12 Behavioral change techniques in influencers’ social media messages 231
  19. Section 3: Medium types
  20. Chapter 13 Instagram and health 251
  21. Chapter 14 Twitter and health communication 269
  22. Chapter 15 Fantasy, facts and fun: Digital health games for impact and implementation 287
  23. Chapter 16 Chatbots for health communication 309
  24. Section 4: Message recipients
  25. Chapter 17 Information seeking, scanning, and processing 335
  26. Chapter 18 Health literacy and information processing 355
  27. Chapter 19 Language difficulties: Healthcare provider–migrant patient communication 375
  28. Chapter 20 Cognitive biases in depression: Implications for help-seeking messaging 391
  29. Chapter 21 Creating active involvement interventions to effectively reduce adolescent health risk behaviors 411
  30. Section 5: Contemporary challenges
  31. Chapter 22 Infodemics and health information overload 433
  32. Chapter 23 Fake news and misinformation 453
  33. Chapter 24 Health communication on social media during a crisis 469
  34. Section 6: Case studies
  35. Chapter 25 Exploring communication in multi-level strategies for promoting healthy diets: A South African case study 491
  36. Chapter 26 Physical activity and citizen science: Two case studies from Flanders (Belgium) 505
  37. List of contributors 527
  38. Index 539
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110775426-027

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series V
  3. Contents IX
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section 1: Message senders
  6. Chapter 1 Creating trust in health organizations 11
  7. Chapter 2 Creating trust and understanding in doctor–patient relationships 31
  8. Chapter 3 Social media influencers for health promotion 49
  9. Chapter 4 Celebrity health narratives and the celebrity sick-scape 69
  10. Section 2: Message content
  11. Chapter 5 Fear appeals in health communication 91
  12. Chapter 6 Messaging and affect processing 109
  13. Chapter 7 Narratives in health communication 127
  14. Chapter 8 Entertainment-Education in the new media landscape: Stimulating creative engagement in online communities for social and behavioral change 147
  15. Chapter 9 The communication of uncertainty in health 169
  16. Chapter 10 Social norms in health communication 187
  17. Chapter 11 The impact of argument strength in health communication 213
  18. Chapter 12 Behavioral change techniques in influencers’ social media messages 231
  19. Section 3: Medium types
  20. Chapter 13 Instagram and health 251
  21. Chapter 14 Twitter and health communication 269
  22. Chapter 15 Fantasy, facts and fun: Digital health games for impact and implementation 287
  23. Chapter 16 Chatbots for health communication 309
  24. Section 4: Message recipients
  25. Chapter 17 Information seeking, scanning, and processing 335
  26. Chapter 18 Health literacy and information processing 355
  27. Chapter 19 Language difficulties: Healthcare provider–migrant patient communication 375
  28. Chapter 20 Cognitive biases in depression: Implications for help-seeking messaging 391
  29. Chapter 21 Creating active involvement interventions to effectively reduce adolescent health risk behaviors 411
  30. Section 5: Contemporary challenges
  31. Chapter 22 Infodemics and health information overload 433
  32. Chapter 23 Fake news and misinformation 453
  33. Chapter 24 Health communication on social media during a crisis 469
  34. Section 6: Case studies
  35. Chapter 25 Exploring communication in multi-level strategies for promoting healthy diets: A South African case study 491
  36. Chapter 26 Physical activity and citizen science: Two case studies from Flanders (Belgium) 505
  37. List of contributors 527
  38. Index 539
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