Acknowledgements

Meghan McDonough

Acknowledgements

Contributors

Meghan McDonough, PhD is a Professor and Associate Dean Graduate in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Her expertise is in sport and exercise psychology, and her work focuses on social relationships and psychological well-being in physical activity. She is the Principal Applicant on the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant that funded this work.

Khadija Ahmad, BSc is a master’s student in the Relationships and Exercise Lab in the Faculty of Kinesiology. Her role in this project is part of her master’s thesis, which focuses on understanding social support within community-based physical activity programs.

Erica Bennett, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia. Her research is grounded in cultural perspectives in sport and exercise psychology, examining how psychological and sociocultural factors interact to shape people’s experiences with physical activity across the life course. She is a Co-Applicant on the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada that funded this work.

Ella Blanke, BSc was an undergraduate student in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. She completed her honors research with the Relationships and Exercise Lab as part of this project.

William Bridel, PhD is Senior Associate Dean, Academic Programs and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Dr. Bridel’s research focuses on sociocultural aspects of sport, physical activity, and health with a particular interest in inclusive policy and practices.

Jolie Che, BA, BKin a Master’s student in the Relationship and Exercise Lab within the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Her role involved helping to facilitate interviews and contributing to the analysis for this project.

Bobbie-Ann Craig, MSc is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Her expertise is in health and exercise psychology, and her work focuses on social support and self-compassion in adult physical activity. She has contributed to all phases of the project and led the review studies.

Nicole Culos-Reed, PhD is a Professor and Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. She holds a UCalgary Research Excellence Chair, with expertise in exercise behaviour change and exercise oncology implementation studies. Her funding includes CIHR, the Canadian Cancer Society, Alberta Cancer Foundation, and community philanthropic support, including from the Surerus Community Support Fund for ongoing exercise oncology program implementation in Southern Alberta.

Cari Din, PhD is a Professor (Teaching) in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Her expertise is in leadership and coaching behaviours that enable physical activity across the lifespan.

Isabelle Doré, PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Physical Activity Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and in the School of Public Health at Université de Montréal. Her laboratory, LABE (Laboratory on Physical Activity and Well-Being), specializes in physical activity and mental health promotion.

Chloé Drapeau, MSc was a master’s student in Dre Isabelle Doré’s lab at the site of Montreal. Chloé helped with the initial ethics application and conducted group interviews in French.

Alexandra Giancarlo, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Her expertise is in socio-cultural studies of sport and physical activity, particularly with Black and Indigenous communities.

Jennifer Hewson, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on social gerontology, particularly social participation and inclusion, informed by the social determinants of health and the age-friendly communities framework.

Sian Jones, MPP, MSc Econ contributed to this work as an Issue Strategist in the Community Strategies business unit at the City of Calgary through their work leading the Senior’s Age-Friendly Strategy.

Alicia Kalmanovitch, MSW contributed to this work in their role with the Community Strategies business unit at the City of Calgary through their work supporting the Senior’s Age-Friendly Strategy.

Sarah J. Kenny, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Faculties of Kinesiology and Arts (Dance) at the University of Calgary. As a Dance Science researcher, her expertise focuses on promoting the health and wellbeing of people who dance. She is a co-investigator on the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant that funded this work.

Andy Kitchen, BSc.Kin is a Recreation Program Specialist with the City of Calgary. She is the creator of the City of Calgary’s Gentle Fitness program model and instructor training.

Janet Lin, MSc contributed to this work as an Issue Strategist in the Community Strategies business unit at the City of Calgary.

Kristen Lucibello, PhD was a Research Associate of the Health Behaviour and Emotion Lab at the University of Toronto. Kristen’s primary role was to facilitate semi-structured interviews and conduct data analysis at the University of Toronto site.

Lindsay Morrison, MSc was a Research Coordinator in the Relationship and Exercise Lab in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Lindsay facilitated project communication and organization with the study team coordinated research activities across research sites.

Raynell McDonough, MSW is an Team Lead with Community Based Strategies at the City of Calgary. She contributed to this project with her expertise in leadership, strategy, and policies to support equity-deserving groups.

Pam Manzara, BPE contributed to the project in her role as a Recreation Program Coordinator in the Recreation and Social Programs business unit at the City of Calgary. She was a member of the project team that developed the Active Aging Strategy and coordinates recreation programming for older adults.

AJ Matsune, BSocSc contributed to the project in her role as a Recreation Program Coordinator in the Recreation and Social Programs business unit at the City of Calgary. She lead Active Everyone, aimed at equity, diversity, and inclusion in recreation programming.

Corentin Montiel, PsyD, PhD is a community psychologist and a postdoctoral researcher in public health at the University of Montreal. He was involved in the qualitative data analysis.

Vanessa Paglione, MSc is a Research Coordinator in the Relationship and Exercise Lab in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Vanessa’s primary role was to facilitate communication and project organization across the research sites and study team.

Alexia Piché, MSc is a PhD candidate in Dre Isabelle Doré’s lab at the site of Montreal. Her implication in the project was in the translation of the contents in French.

Florence Peters, MScKin is a kinesiologist and the research coordinator of Dre Isabelle Doré’s lab and she was involved in translating and recording training contents in French for the site of Montreal as part of this project.

Kaitlyn Riddell, MSc, was a graduate student in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. She completed her Master’s research with the Relationships and Exercise Lab and contributed to this project as part of her involvement in the lab.

Catherine Sabiston, PhD is a Professor at the University of Toronto (Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education) and a Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Mental Health. She has expertise in physical activity, mental health, and social processes, and is the Director of the Mental Health & Physical Activity Research Centre.

Sarah Stephen, PhD was a postdoctoral associate in the Relationship and Exercise Lab in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Her expertise is in sport and exercise psychology with her work focusing on social relations.

Samira Sunderji, MSc, is a PhD candidate in the Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre within the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education at the University of Toronto. In this project, Samira served as the primary graduate research assistant for the University of Toronto site, facilitating and coordinating all site-level research activities.

Kari Stone is the Vice President, Programs at Unison at Kerby Centre. She has expertise developing innovative programs that help older adults stay active, connected, and supported. She oversees initiatives including Active Aging, a Wellness Connection Centre for seniors’ mental health, an Elder Abuse Shelter & Outreach, and the Thrive Food Security program.

Regan Thompson, MA is a PhD student in the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia. She studies experiences of embodiment in the area of sport and exercise psychology, and co-led the data collection and analysis phases of this project for the Vancouver site.

Ann Toohey, PhD contributed to this work in her role as the Scientific Coordinator of the Brenda Strafford Centre on Aging and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary (Community Health Sciences), with expertise in public health gerontology, aging-in place, social participation, and vulnerable populations.

Krista White, MA contributed to this work in her role as the lead dance instructor for University Heights Community Dance Program, a neighbourhood-based older adult dance program aimed at promoting social inclusion.

Stephanie Won, MA spent 34 years working in municipal recreation program development, design, delivery and evaluation. Her passion and experience is in getting people active, creative and socially connected throughout their lives.

Amanda Wurz, PhD is and Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology at the University of the Fraser Valley. Her expertise is in pediatric exercise oncology and behaviour change, and and her work focuses on supporting well-being through the co-design and implementation of accessible physical activity programs. She was supported by a Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar Award and a Canadian Cancer Society Emerging Scholar Research Grant during this work.

Chantelle Zimmer, PhD is the Senior Manager of the Centre on Aging at the University of Calgary and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology. She is a Co-Investigator on this project and brings expertise in social factors influencing physical activity participation among older adults, including equity-deserving groups.

Publications

The content of this training was based on the following research:

Craig, B. P., Morrison, L., McDonough, M. H., Sabiston, C. M., Bennett, E., Doré, I., Won, S., Manzara, P ., Culos- Reed, S. N., Hewson, J., Kenny, S. J., Zimmer, C., Wurz, A., Stone, K., Jones, S., Toohey, A., Giancarlo, A., White, K., & McDonough, R. (2025). Social support in physical activity interventions for adults: An overview of reviews. Kinesiology Review, 14(3), 277-289.

This publication can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1123/kr.2024-0026 or an open access version is available at https://hdl.handle.net/1880/120966

Craig, B.-A. P., Paglione, V., Morrison, L., McDonough, M. H., Stephen, S. A., Sabiston, C. M., Bennett, E. V., Doré, I., Won, S., Culos-Reed, S. N., Din, C., Hewson, J., Kenny, S. J., Zimmer, C., Wurz, A., Kitchen, A., Stone, K., Jones, S., Giancarlo, A., & McDonough, R. (2026). Social support strategies within in-person and online physical activity programs for adults: A rapid review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology.

This open-access publication can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2026.2625711.

For further information about this and related work, please visit https://kinesiology.ucalgary.ca/relationships-and-exercise-lab/home-0

Acknowledgement of Funding and Support

This project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through a Partnership Development Grant.

We are thankful for in-kind contributions from the University of Calgary, The School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, The City of Calgary, Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre (MPARC) at the University of Toronto, The Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), Unison at Kerby Centre, and Montréal Physiquement Active.

We acknowledge the support of the University of Calgary’s Libraries and Cultural Resources in partnership with Open Education Alberta for the production of this book through the Open Education Alberta Publishing Service.