Objective: Communities are important settings for health promotion and prevention. The community readiness assessment offers a structured approach to assess resources and opportunities to tackle a health problem within a community. The assessment relies on semi-structured interviews with key informants from the communities. A number of 4–6 key informant interviews are recommended in the literature. However, it is unclear whether this is sufficient to obtain a valid representation of the respective community. This study analysed whether increasing the number of key informants from 4–6 to 12–15 alters the results of the community readiness assessment. Results: A total of 55 community readiness interviews were carried out in 4 communities. Overall, the community readiness scores showed little variation after having interviewed 10 key informants in a community. However, even after completing 10 interviews in a community, key informants were still able to identify up to 6 new information items regarding community efforts for physical activity promotion among the elderly, contact and communication channel for informing or approaching the target group, or barriers to participation.

Communities can play an important role in delivering public health programs to older adults, but they differ in the provision of local structures and resources. The community readiness (CR) approach applies a stage model of change to the community level and analyzes structures and the degree of willingness to take action on a health issue. This study compared the CR regarding the promotion of physical activity as part of healthy ageing for older adults among urban and rural communities in North-West Germany. A cross-sectional CR assessment with key respondents in 23 municipalities (11 urban and 12 rural communities) was conducted using a semi-structured interview. Interviews were scored across the five CR dimensions and global CR score was calculated (scores between 1 = no awareness and 9 = professionalization). Wilcoxon rank-sum test and hierarchical regression models were used to compare urban and rural communities. In total, 118 interviews were conducted (response rate 69.8%). On average, the communities showed moderate CR scores (4.9 ± 0.3; Range: 4.3–5.4; preplanning or preparation phase). The global CR score was slightly higher in rural than in urban communities (regression coefficient = 0.29, 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.02–0.59). The rural communities showed significantly higher CR scores in the ‘Knowledge of efforts’ dimension (0.70, 95% CI: 0.26–1.14) and in the ‘Knowledge of the issue’ (0.37, 95% CI: 0.04–0.70). Rural communities display a slightly higher CR level than urban communities. In the next step, targeted capacity building activities will be initiated among communities with low CR levels.

Injection drug use (IDU) and IDU‐related infectious diseases such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are highly prevalent among prisoners worldwide. However, little is known about the prevalence of IDUs, HCV/HIV and the availability of respective treatment options in German prisons. Data provided by prison physicians of 31 prisons, representing 14,537 inmates, were included in this analysis. The proportion of IDUs among all prisoners was 21.9%. Substitution treatment was available in three out of four prisons (74.2%). Overall, 1137 substitution treatments were provided annually with a wide range of treatment aims. The prevalence rate was 14.3% for HCV and 1.2% for HIV. Around 5.5% of all HCV‐infected prisoners were in antiviral treatment annually, 86.5% of all HIV‐positive inmates in antiretroviral HIV‐treatment. Generally, substitution treatment, and HCV and HIV testing and treatment are available. However, due to abstinence‐orientated treatment aims, substitution treatment is rarely available as maintenance treatment, and HCV/HIV‐treatment is mainly provided for patients with an existing treatment before imprisonment. The inconsistent data quality necessitates changes in prison‐related policy to improve surveillance and to generate aggregated data in German prisons. The selection process in this analysis might lead to overestimating the provision of substitution and antiviral HCV‐treatment.

Community-based interventions to promote physical activity (PA) among older adults are of high interest in health promotion since they promise to be effective strategies to reach this population group. Community capacity building, that is, the local promotion of knowledge, skills, commitment, structures, and leadership, is among the recommended core strategies. However, little guidance is provided on how to achieve a high degree of community capacity. This study aims to identify practical strategies to enhance community capacities for PA promotion among older adults (50 years or older) and to evaluate their success. A literature review was conducted using scientific databases (PsycInfo and Web of Sciences) and grey literature (national and international project databases), and 14 studies (16 articles) were identified. Five groups of capacity building strategies emerged from the literature: (1) building community coalitions and networks, (2) training of professionals, (3) training of laypersons, (4) strengthening competence and awareness in the target population, and (5) allocation of financial resources. All studies used more than one strategy. Coalition building and strengthening competence and awareness were most frequently used. Feasibility and acceptability of the capacity building strategies were demonstrated. However, intervention effects on PA behavior and other relevant outcomes were inconsistent. The one study that systematically compared different capacity building approaches did not find any evidence for beneficial effects of intensified capacity building. More rigorous research evaluating the efficacy of specific strategies to enhance community capacities for PA promotion is needed.

Zusammenfassung: Das 2015 verabschiedete Präventionsgesetz sieht eine Stärkung settingbasierter Präventionsansätze vor. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Vorstellung des Community Readiness-Modells als ein Instrument zur Bedarfsermittlung und Verbesserung gesundheitsförderlicher Strukturen im Setting Kommune am Beispiel Bewegungsförderung im Alter im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts Ready to Change. Community Readiness steht dabei für kommunale Handlungsbereitschaft. Die Bedarfsermittlung im Rahmen der Modell-Umsetzung erfolgt als Community Readiness-Assessment, bei dem an Themen der Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention angepasste Leitfaden-gestützte Interviews mit Schlüsselpersonen in Kommunen geführt werden. Als Ergebnis wird für die Kommunen ein Stadium der Handlungsbereitschaft identifiziert, aus dementsprechend zu ergreifende Public Health-Maßnahmen abgeleitet werden. In unserem Beispiel wurde das Modell an das Thema Bewegungsförderung im Alter im kommunalen Setting angepasst. Ein Assessment wurde im Jahr 2015 in 23 Kommunen im Nordwesten Deutschlands durchgeführt. Für die Ergebnisdarstellung des Assessments werden beispielhaft Darstellungen wie Spinnweb-Diagramme und geographische Verteilungen präsentiert. Mit dem Community Readiness-Ansatz liegt ein Modell vor, mit dem eine systematische Bestandsaufnahme und Verbesserung lokaler Strukturen und Ressourcen der Gesundheitsförderung umgesetzt werden kann. Unsere Projekterfahrungen zeigen, dass sich das Vorgehen im Community Readiness-Modell gut umsetzen lässt. Wesentliche Vorteile dieses Ansatzes liegen in der Systematik des Vorgehens und in der lokalen Stärken- und Schwächenanalyse als Voraussetzung für kommunenspezifische Interventionen.

Reducing social inequalities in health and health determinants, including physical activity (PA), is a major challenge for public health. PA-promoting interventions are increasingly implemented. Little is known, however, about the impact of these interventions on social inequalities. For prioritizing interventions most likely to be effective in reducing inequalities, studies of PA interventions need to conduct equity impact assessments. The aim of this article is to describe the development of a logic model framework for equity impact assessments of interventions to promote PA. The framework was developed within the prevention research network AEQUIPA—Physical activity and health equity: primary prevention for healthy ageing, informed by an equity-focused systematic review, expert interviews, exploratory literature searches, and joint discussions within the network. The framework comprises a general equity-focused logic model to be adapted to specific interventions. The intervention-specific equity-focused logic models illustrate the key elements relevant for assessing social inequalities in study participation, compliance with and acceptance of interventions, as well as the efficacy of interventions. Future work within AEQUIPA will reveal which key elements are most critical for the interventions’ equity impacts. Equity impact assessments are beneficial for prioritizing interventions most likely to be effective in reducing health inequalities.