Continuing BEAT Education
These materials are meant to be used for education and training purposes, and we welcome their use as part of other taught courses on public health, the built environment, and environmental assessment. Contact us if you are interested in incorporating this module into teaching or training.
Module Resources & Further Reading
PARA Protocols and Tools
- PARA Instrument – Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA) is an audit tool used to assess the presence and qualities of the space that might be used for physical activity.
- PARA Protocol – The PARA Protocol provides general instructions on how to complete the form and operational definitions.
- PARA Scoring Protocol – The PARA Scoring Protocol provides an outline on coding, ratings, and calculating scores. Scoring Sample Spreadsheet – This spreadsheet provides an example of a full assessment, including scoring for each feature.
- Scoring Spreadsheet Template – An Excel spreadsheet with examples and templates for scoring and analyzing neighborhoods using PARA.
Using PARA in the Field
- The Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA) instrument: Evaluating features, amenities and incivilities of physical activity resources in urban neighborhoods – The Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA) instrument was developed to assess all publicly available physical activity resources in thirteen urban lower income, high ethnic minority concentration neighborhoods.
- Lee RE, Booth KM, Reese-Smith JY, Regan G, Howard HH. The Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA) instrument: evaluating features, amenities and incivilities of physical activity resources in urban neighborhoods. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2005 Sep 14;2:13. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-2-13. PMID: 16162285; PMCID: PMC1262748.
- Physical Activity Resource Attributes and Obesity in Low-Income African Americans – The purpose of this study was to measure direct associations of PAR attributes (density, accessibility, incivilities, feature, and amenity quality) and sidewalk connectivity with BMI and body fat in low-income African Americans residing in public housing developments.
- McAlexander KM, Banda JA, McAlexander JW, Lee RE. Physical activity resource attributes and obesity in low-income African Americans. J Urban Health. 2009 Sep;86(5):696-707. doi: 10.1007/s11524-009-9385-0. Epub 2009 Jul 8. PMID: 19585244; PMCID: PMC2729871.