| Summary: | Project This Ability (PTA) is a communications campaign aimed at promoting sports
for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) aged 18-25. As PWDs are more susceptible to
secondary health conditions, experts recommend sports for its benefits on PWDs’ mental,
physical and social well-being. Framed by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the
campaign leveraged on role-modelling and social norming theories in their campaign tactics
and messages, which resulted in a unique packaging of sports as a fun, recreational activity
for one to partake with friends. PTA’s mixed-media tactics include: (1) International Symbol
of Access (ISOA) Sign Takeover, (2) a micro-film, (3) Information Portal, (4) Para-Sports
Day, and (5) social media assets. Evaluation of the campaign’s affective outcomes found that
social influence had a positive impact on changing PWDs’ attitude towards sports. It was also
found that exposure to the campaign resulted in a significant improvement in all constructs of
the TPB, specifically PWDs’ attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and
behavioural intentions with respect to sports participation. However, no significant dose-response
relationship was found between level of campaign visibility and the aforementioned
constructs. Nonetheless, it is worthy to note that around 43% of PWDs who attended the
Para-Sports Day signed up to join existing disability sports programs. Drawing lessons from
the PTA campaign, future campaigners can apply similar strategies in promoting health-related
behaviour, especially when pertaining to group related activities such as sports.
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