Key informant surveys as a tool to implement and evaluate physical activity interventions in the community

Key informant surveys are important tools for planning and evaluating commu nity health programs. A survey was conducted to gather views on policies to ward physical activity from four sets of key informants: physicians, church leaders, business leaders and civic leaders. Surveys were mailed to 797 ke y informants who were selected from 12 southeastern Missouri counties. For comparison, data from a telephone survey of 2106 persons in the general pop ulation were also analyzed, The majority (>85%) in all four key informant g roups were very supportive of required physical education in schools, but l ess supportive (<69%) of government funding for places where community memb ers can exercise. Physicians perceived community members as having somewhat greater access to places to exercise relative to the other key informant g roups. Comparisons of the key informant surveys to the population survey in dicated similar levels of support for physical activity policy. The informa tion from this survey has been useful in identifying support for physical a ctivity policy and gaining access to potential influences for community cha nge, Since key informant research in the area of physical activity policy a nd cardiovascular disease prevention is sparse, there is a need for future studies.