Outdoor Youth Programs Research Alliance (OYPRA)
The Outdoor Youth Programs Research Alliance (OYPRA) is an Australian group including the Outdoor Council of Australia and partners looking at documenting the health and wellbeing benefits of outdoor programs for youth. Founded in 2009, OYPRA was established with the aim of providing quality evidence of the extent to which outdoor, camping and nature-based programs are associated with reliable improvements in resilience, learning and wellbeing among young people.
The Alliance is hosted by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and Deakin University. The team includes representatives from the health research sector, outdoor industry, government bodies, and non-profit community organisations.
OYPRA has developed a program of research to build Australian evidence of the benefits of outdoor and nature-based programs for young people. Ultimately they would like to identify effective ways of promoting resilience, learning and wellbeing among young people though outdoor programs. The planned research program comprises three distinct, but related, phases.
Phase One: National Audit of Outdoor Programs
This study seeks to establish what types of outdoor programs are provided nationally, who takes part and what benefits are sought.
Status: completed in 2012; the final report can be downloaded here.
Snapshot from the report
- typically up to 40 young people aged between 10 and 16 years take part in these programs
- personal development and social development are cited as the most important goals
- most programs share a common set of core characteristics related to Challenge, Activity, Nature, Guided experience, and the Social milieu
- providers report that most participants experience a number of benefits
- informal and anecdotal evidence forms the basis of much understanding of participant benefits
- over 380 outdoor program providers and leaders completed the survey
- outdoor programs from every state and territory in Australia represented
- providers typically deliver approximately 50 outdoor programs per year
- most outdoor programs run for between 3 and 5 days
Phase Two: Online Survey examining Effects of Existing Outdoor Programs
A large community study will be undertaken of the experiences of young people participating in existing structured outdoor and nature-based programs to examine self-reported benefits.
Status: completed in 2016
Phase Three: Design, Delivery and formal Evaluation of new Outdoor Youth Program
We will undertake one of the first ever studies to formally evaluate the impact of structured outdoor and nature-based programs on young people’s resilience, learning and wellbeing, using a large community sample and employing a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design.
Status: currently underway
For further information please visit the project website at www.oypra.org.au