IHP 200 Module 7 Project Two Example

Project Two: Walk Brookside, a Community Walking Program

[Student Name]

Southern New Hampshire University

IHP 200: Wellness Across the Lifespan

Project Two

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

Project Two: Walk Brookside, a Community Walking Program

Walking is the most accessible form of physical activity: it needs no equipment or membership and suits most ages and abilities. Yet in the neighborhood around Brookside Family Health Center, a composite clinic, a review of intake questionnaires found that about two thirds of adult patients get less than 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. Nearly a third have high blood pressure, and one in six has type 2 diabetes. This project proposes Walk Brookside, a clinic-led walking program, and explains its goals, the evidence behind its design, how it serves different life stages, its partners and budget and how success will be measured.

Goals

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, summarized by Piercy et al. (2018), recommend that adults accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, that children and teens get an hour a day and that older adults include balance training. The guidelines emphasize that benefits begin with any increase in activity and that sitting less helps. Walk Brookside's goal is that, within six months, participants increase their weekly walking by at least 60 minutes, and that half of participants who began below the guideline reach 150 minutes a week.

What Works to Increase Activity

Kahn et al. (2002) conducted a systematic review for the Task Force on Community Preventive Services to identify interventions that increase physical activity. They found strong evidence for social support interventions in community settings, such as walking groups and buddy systems, for individually adapted behavior change programs that include goal setting and self-monitoring and for creating or improving access to places for physical activity combined with outreach. They also found sufficient evidence that point-of-decision prompts, such as signs encouraging stair use, increase activity. Information alone, such as classroom education, was less effective.

Walk Brookside is built on these findings: group walks for social support, step goals and logs for individual behavior change, mapped safe routes for access and prompts in the clinic and neighborhood.

Program Design

The program has four parts. Group walks leave from the clinic parking lot three times a week: Monday and Wednesday evenings at 6:00 for working adults and Tuesday mornings at 9:30 for older adults, with a slower pace and balance exercises at the end. Trained volunteer leaders, including clinic staff and community members, lead each walk. Participants receive a simple pedometer and a step log and set a personal goal with a medical assistant at enrollment. A map of three safe, well-lit routes of different lengths is printed and posted. Signs in the clinic lobby and nearby bus stops invite people to join.

Serving Different Life Stages

A lifespan approach means designing for more than one group. Families are invited to Saturday morning walks that end at the neighborhood park, where children can play, helping young people move toward their daily hour. Working adults get evening times after most shifts end. Older adults get a slower morning walk with balance exercises that support fall prevention and time for coffee afterward, adding social connection. People with diabetes or heart conditions are asked to check with their clinician before starting, and walk leaders carry a basic first aid kit and a phone.

Plain-Language Materials

Berkman et al. (2011) systematically reviewed research on health literacy and found that low health literacy was associated with more hospitalizations and emergency visits, lower use of preventive services such as screenings and flu shots, poorer ability to take medications correctly and, among older adults, poorer health status and higher mortality. Many patients at Brookside have limited reading skills or speak Spanish as their first language. All Walk Brookside materials will be written at a fifth-grade reading level, use pictures to show routes and goals, appear in English and Spanish and be tested with five patients before printing.

Partners and Budget

Partners include the city parks department, which will allow use of the park for Saturday walks; a neighborhood church, which will host a rainy-day indoor walk in its hall; and a local pharmacy, which will donate water and sunscreen. The budget is modest: pedometers at about eight dollars each for 150 participants, printing of maps and logs, first aid kits and reflective vests for leaders, totaling about 2,000 dollars, which the clinic will seek from a community health grant.

Table 1. Program Components and Evidence

Note. Strategies follow the Community Guide review.

Enrollment

Clinicians will mention the program at visits for patients with low activity, high blood pressure or diabetes, and medical assistants will enroll interested patients on the spot. Flyers will go to the church, school and laundromat. The first month will be promoted as a free kickoff with a community health fair.

Safety and Barriers

Neighborhood safety came up repeatedly when staff asked patients why they did not walk more: poorly lit streets, loose dogs and heavy traffic on the main road. The mapped routes avoid the main road, the evening walks end before dark in winter by shifting to 5:00 p.m. and group walking itself makes people feel safer. Heat is another barrier in summer, so walks move earlier and leaders carry water. For patients who cannot walk far, the program offers a shorter loop around the clinic and chair exercises during the older adult session, so no one is turned away.

Measuring Success

Participants will report weekly walking minutes from their logs at enrollment, three months and six months, compared with the goals. Attendance at group walks will be tracked. For participants with high blood pressure, readings at routine visits will be compared before and after six months, recognizing that many factors affect blood pressure. A short satisfaction survey will ask participants which parts kept them coming and which made walking harder, so the program can adjust.

Conclusion

Walk Brookside uses strategies with strong evidence, social support, individual goals, safe routes and prompts, to help a less active neighborhood move more. Designed for several life stages, written in plain language and supported by community partners, it is an affordable way for a clinic to promote wellness beyond its walls.

References

Berkman, N. D., Sheridan, S. L., Donahue, K. E., Halpern, D. J., & Crotty, K. (2011). Low health literacy and health outcomes: An updated systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155(2), 97-107. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-155-2-201107190-00005

Kahn, E. B., Ramsey, L. T., Brownson, R. C., Heath, G. W., Howze, E. H., Powell, K. E., Stone, E. J., Rajab, M. W., & Corso, P. (2002). The effectiveness of interventions to increase physical activity: A systematic review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 22(4 Suppl.), 73-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(02)00434-8

Piercy, K. L., Troiano, R. P., Ballard, R. M., Carlson, S. A., Fulton, J. E., Galuska, D. A., George, S. M., & Olson, R. D. (2018). The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. JAMA, 320(19), 2020-2028. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.14854