Mobilizing Research for Global Action in Policy and Practice
On May 5-8, 2010, the 3rd International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health was held in Toronto, Ontario. There were more than 1200 delegates from more than 48 countries in attendance. Drs. Warburton and Bredin were honoured to be amongst a select group of presenters during the Congress. They participated in a symposium entitled: “Enhancing the Effectiveness of the PAR-Q and PARmed-X Screening for Physical Activity Participation” with Dr. Norman Gledhill and Dr. Veronica Jamnik (from York University). This symposium marked the official launch of the new Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) and the ePARmed-X+.
Dr. Warburton served as the chair of the session and also a presenter. During his talk, entitled “Evidence-Based Guidelines and the Revised PAR-Q and PARmed-X Clearance Process,” Dr. Warburton highlighted the evidence that formed the basis for the newly created PAR-Q+ and ePARmed-X+. Dr. Bredin followed up by discussing how the information derived from the systematic reviews of the literature was used in the development of the Physical Activity Support Line. Her talk was entitled “Applying what We have Learned in the Community: the Physical Activity Support Line.” The symposium presenters were honoured to present to a room filled with distinguished attendees from around the world. The feedback from this session was overwhelmingly positive reflecting the importance of over three years of work by our research team. During the session, Drs. Bredin and Warburton highlighted how important their trainees were to the successful completion of this important project.
Dr. Warburton followed up the symposium by giving a four hour hands-on workshop to approximately 200 delegates. This workshop was also well received highlighting further the importance of this initiative.