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UMf A Qualitative Evaluation of the YMCA's Physical Healthy and Driven Program (PHD) By Rama Issa Musharbash A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Faculty of Human Kinetics in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2009 ©Rama Musharbash, 2009 Library and Archives Biblioth^que et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'§dition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-57634-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-57634-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par ('Internet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantias de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada Author's Declaration of Originality I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of this thesis has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone's copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my thesis and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis, including any final revisions, as approved by my thesis committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University or Institution. ABSTRACT This study was conducted to evaluate the YMCA's Physical, Healthy, and Driven (PHD) program. Physical activity programs such as PHD, Camp Shane, and High Five are focused on creating opportunities for individuals to engage in healthy active living. There has been a proliferation of such programs in recent years in response to the health statistics that identify high rates of overweight and obesity and low levels of activity in youth. Often, it is assumed that such programs are valuable for the participants without any formal evaluation process to verify this assertion. The objective of this evaluation was to examine the effectiveness and the delivery of the program. Three sub problems were addressed: What do parents say about the content and delivery of the PHD program?; how do program administrators identify the needs of participants in the PHD program?; and what organizational changes would further facilitate implementation of the PHD program? Overall, the evaluation resulted in positive comments about the value of the program to participants and their families. Accordingly, recommendations emerged that support program sustainability, growth and geographic expansion. iv Dedicated to my Family Dr. Issa Musharbash Thanks for all the help and support throughout my entire life. Randa Madbak Thank you for introducing me to the belief that "there's no such thing as I can't". I love you Mom and I will always remember all what you have done for me. Amer Musharbash Thank you for being the most loving and caring brother, and for all the advice and support you offered me when I needed it. Yazan Musharbash Thanks for being my brother, partner, teammate, and best friend throughout my life. Bana Musharbash Thank you for giving me the chance to enjoy the feeling of having a sister. Thanks for always being there for me. I love you Sister and I will always be there for you. v Acknowledgments TO GOD, WHO MADE ALL THINGS POSSIBLE I would like to take this opportunity to thank several people who have helped me complete this thesis. Thanks for the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington D.C. for allowing me to do the study, and helping me in getting the data and information needed for this study. I also thank the PHD Program participants and staff for giving me the time and participating in my study. I would like to specially thank Dr. Holman, my advisor, who taught me how to evaluate, reconsider, and defend my writing and its worth. Not enough kind words, terms of endearment or gratitude can be expressed to Dr. Holman for all her attention, care, guidance, and support, and for understanding my language barrier while she was my advisor at the University of Windsor. I would like to also thank Dr. Boucher, my committee member for reading my drafts and giving me valuable comments and feedback that certainly made my study more valuable. I also thank Dr. Smith my committee member from the Education Department, for all her help and support during the study. And for making time to read my drafts, for the valuable thoughts and feedback she gave me about the paper. I owe a special thank-you to my family members in Jordan, Issa Musharbash, Randa Madbak, Amer, Yazan, and Bana Musharbash. To my great siblings, thanks for all your love and support throughout the years. I thank you all for all your encouragement, and for always believing in me. Mom and Dad, it is because of your guidance, love, and self-confidence you gave me that I am the person I am today. Without your love and confidence I wouldn't be here now I love you all so much! vi Thanks you to my "away from home" family, my brothers and sisters Icram Najm, Omar Haddad, and Rakan Aloran, for all the nights they spend with me in Leddy working on my research, for all the times they made me laugh on my mistakes and encourage me to move forward, and for all their love and support. (Good luck buds) I would like to thank my teacher Jodee Schaben for her encouragement and support throughout my undergraduate and graduate school. I thank her for all the days she spent talking to me and making me feel better. For all the guidance and for believing in me with all that I was able to finish the paper. Special thank you for my roommate, friend, and classmate Erin Benson for all the times she made me laugh, for the encouragement, and for being a great friend whom I trust. I love you and wish you all the best. Finally, I would like to thank my best friend Michele Barsness for the coffee, and road trips that not only introduced me to the United States, but she also taught me to always be grateful and enjoy every single moment. Erin and Michele thank you for all the visits up to Canada, thanks for helping me overcome my obstacles; and for helping me reach my goals. I am grateful for our friendship. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHOR'S DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY iii ABSTRACT iv DEDICATION v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 Camp Shane 2 HIGH FIVE 3 Physical, Healthy, Driven Program (PHD) 4 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 6 Overweight and Obesity: Canada and the USA 7 An Overview 7 Research Findings 8 Healthy Eating 9 Activity and Technology 10 The Impacts of Overweight and Obesity 10 Economic Aspects of Obesity 10 The Health Aspects of Obesity 11 History of the YMCA 12 YMCA International 12 YMCA in Canada and the United States 13 YMCA Metropolitan Washington D.C. Area 14 Physical, Healthy, Driven Program 15 Assessment 16 Exercise 17 Nutrition 17 Family 17 Marketing 18 Pilot Program 18 Program Evaluation 19 Evaluation of Exercise and Activity Programs 22 viii Objective of the Study 23 Research Question 25 III. METHODOLOGY 26 Program Evaluation 26 Method 27 Focus Groups 27 Interviews 29 Participants 29 Recruitment Process 30 Data Collection 31 Focus Groups 31 Instrumentations 32 Interview 32 Ethics 33 Data Analysis 34 Limitations and Delimitations 35 IV. Results and Discussion 38 The Director of the PHD Program 41 Program Development 42 Program Evaluation 43 Program Change and Growth 44 Staff of the PHD Program 46 Program Development 46 Staff Demographics 46 Program Change and Growth 50 Changes and Expectations 53 Parents (Focus Groups) 56 Getting Started 57 Meeting Expectations 58 Program Impact 62 Parental Feedback 67 Creating Change 69 Implications of Findings 71 Conclusions 76 ix References APPENDIX A APPENDIX B APPENDIX C APPENDIX D APPENDIX E APPENDIX F APPENDIX G APPENDIX H APPENDIX I YMCA APPROVAL VITA AUCOTRIS Physical, Healthy, Driven 13 Introduction Childhood obesity in Canadian and American children has increased rapidly and is showing no evidence of slowing down.