Be Active Your Way Blog - rPate

Speaking Up for Physical Activity

rPate — Wed, 25 May 2011 09:50:00 -0400

In all likelihood, if you are reading this blog, you're already well aware of the myriad of benefits associated with being regularly physically active, and you likely meet or exceed federal physical activity guidelines. What you may be less aware of are the ways in which you can become a voice for physical activity promotion in your community, so that your neighbors, colleagues, and friends can also realize the benefits of being more active.

Maybe you've noticed that physical education is no longer required in your children's school, that there are unsafe sidewalks in your town, or no bike racks where you work, while others never give you thought to such issues. As an individual, what can you do? With May being National Physical Activity Month, you can use the National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) to become a voice for change that echoes for months to come.

The NPAP is a document comprised of recommendations for changes in the environments in which we live, work, play, travel, and learn, such that they better support physical activity. Most of the recommendations made in the NPAP are written with policymakers in mind. Maybe as an employer, school board member, or parent, you are policymaker, with the ability to alter an environment so that it's easier for others to be more active. If so, the buck may start and stop with you. But maybe you're not a policymaker, what then? Then, you can become a voice for change, an informed advocate with the power to influence those in position to make change.

With recommendations from across a number of societal sectors - including Education; Parks, Recreation, Fitness and Sports; Business and Industry; and Transportation, Land Use, and Community Design - the NPAP is your roadmap for becoming an advocate at local, state, and even national levels.

For example, if you want to be a voice for more physical activity opportunities for youth in your community, approach the local school board or P.T.A. with the information from the Education sector, citing specific recommendations from the NPAP that call for community partnerships that will create such opportunities.

As another example, maybe you know that if there were just more bike lanes and sidewalks where you live, more people could safely walk to the store, or bike to work. Here, you can become an advocate for change at local and state levels by meeting with your elected officials or members of your state's Department of Transportation, armed with "real world" recommendations for change that have been proven effective.

There could not be a better way to celebrate National Physical Activity Month than to model healthy physical activity behavior, while also becoming an educated advocate for physical activity. So please use the Federal PA Guidelines to become or stay a model of healthy behavior, and use the NPAP to become a strong advocate for change to improve the lives of others.

How are you advocating for change?

Achieving Population Changes in Physical Activity through Targeting Specific Settings

rPate — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:04:00 -0400

“One day, all Americans will be physically active and then will live, work, and play in environments that facilitate regular physical activity.” This is the stated vision of the US National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP), and it speaks to the importance of targeting specific settings. Success of the NPAP will come, in large part, as the result of local actions that target specific settings such as schools, workplaces, community streets, and parks. The NPAP is chock-full of Strategies and Tactics aimed at specific settings. Here are just a few examples of Strategies and Tactics taken directly from the NPAP that target such settings.

In targeting the workplace, the first strategy from the Business and Industry Sector aims to identify, summarize, and disseminate best practices, models, and evidence-based physical activity interventions in the workplace. Within this strategy are several, more specific tactics including: Recognize organizations that are examples of best practices; Recruit key business and industry leaders to play central roles in influencing their peers. Are there businesses that you are aware of that can serve as models of an active workplace for other employers?

Within the first strategy from the Parks, Recreation, Fitness and Sports sector there is an emphasis on local facilities providing access for all members of the population. One specific tactic is: Provide programs in parks, recreation, fitness, and sports that are appropriate for individuals of both genders, diverse cultures, abilities, developmental stages and needs and that have demonstrated positive physical activity outcomes. Do you know of programs that have demonstrated positive outcomes, meeting the needs of a diverse community?

Increasing physical activity through active transportation is a very attractive option on many levels. The NPAP has a sector devoted to this which includes the following tactic: Support and increase incentives for community projects to create safe and accessible active transportation networks, including not just roadways with pedestrian, bicycle, and transit accommodation, but also networks of greenways, trails, and multi-use pathways. How would you go about rallying support for such initiatives in your community?

Because of their broad reach, schools represent an ideal target environment for increasing physical activity in youth. Within the NPAP’s Education sector, there are many specific recommendations for doing just that. One such recommendation includes working with teachers through requiring pre-service and continuing education for physical education and elementary classroom teachers to deliver high-quality physical education and physical activity programs. As a concerned parent, school board member, or citizen, what steps are you taking to ensure regular physical activity for all students in your area?

Part of the process of evaluating the NPAP is documenting actions targeting specific settings. Based on the examples you see above, or any other of the NPAP’s strategies and tactics, please tell us what is happening in your area by going to http://www.physicalactivityplan.org/contact.php.

National Physical Activity Plan Calls for Policy Changes

rPate — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:00:00 -0400

As was written in NCPPA’s recent blog, public policy is a complex process, involving participation from individuals and organizations working to influence those in position to make policy change. Evident in the NPAP’s guiding principles (see below), the NPAP is a policy document at heart. If acted upon, the policy changes called for in the NPAP will create environments that weave physical activity back into the fabric of American’s daily lives. Being more active will not just be an easier choice to make, but will be a more organic feature of daily living.

Now that the NPAP has been launched, and the NCPPA is spearheading its implementation, the Coordinating Committee that developed the NPAP is poised to oversee evaluation and regular revision of the NPAP. So what does success of an NPAP look like, and how is it evaluated? Evaluation of an NPAP will ideally include surveillance of and regular reporting on a myriad of proximal and distal outcomes of interest. Naturally, observing more Americans meeting and surpassing physical activity guidelines is the outcome of greatest interest, and we’re fortunate to already have some surveillance systems in place to measure this. However, this is a distal variable in which change may not be observable for many years to come.

The challenge is to focus efforts on more short term outcomes that will add up to changes in physical activity at the population level. The NPAP is chock full of strategies and tactics aimed at policies that will lead to changes in these short term outcomes. Is there a strategy or tactic in the NPAP that you feel is of paramount importance in creating short term change? If so, what metrics might you use to evaluate and report on that strategy or tactic?

As the field of physical activity and public health evolves, and as the NPAP meets success in implementation, the NPAP will need to remain current. Policies will be acted upon, bills will be passed, and environments changed. As a web-based document, many small revisions can be regularly made to the NPAP. However, the NPAP will need to undergo substantial revision every two to four years. Looking into your crystal ball, which strategies and tactics do you envision will have been successfully implemented four years from now? How would you revise the NPAP to reflect such change?

NPAP’s Seven Guiding Principles:

Use evidence to inform the Plan’s actions to promote physical activity.
Include initiatives for all socio-demographic groups.
Aim actions at local, state, federal, and institutional levels.
Encourage the involvement of diverse stakeholders to guide the content of the Plan.
Ground the Plan in the ecological model of health behavior.
Ensure that the Plan’s initiatives reduce health disparities across socio-demographic groups.
Present the Plan as a “living document” that is updated on a regular basis

If you are interested in contributing to the evaluation of and/or the regular revision of the NPAP, please visit our Web site and find out more about how to get involved.

National Physical Activity Plan Launched

rPate — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:00:00 -0400

I’m very pleased to announce the first National Physical Activity Plan for the United States. The launch on May 3rd represents the culmination of a two-year effort to develop the Plan and the beginning of the long-term effort to implement it.

Through implementation, government, private industry, non-profits, communities and individuals can now work together under a common set of strategies aimed at one thing; getting more Americans to be more physically active. The Plan’s strategies and tactics provide a framework through which individuals and agencies can rally support for new physical activity-related initiatives and initiatives they may already be pursuing.

As a “living document,” available to the public at www.physicalactivityplan.org, the Plan will be evaluated and updated regularly to accurately reflect its successes and a fluid landscape of physical activity and public health policy. As such, we welcome on-going feedback on the Plan’s Strategies and Tactics and encourage you and your colleagues to help keep the Plan fresh. Is there one strategy or tactic of the plan that you endorse? If so, please say which one and why you believe in its importance.

Opportunity to Comment on Draft National Physical Activity Plan

rPate — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:04:00 -0400

The launch of the National Physical Activity Plan is set for May 3, 2010. This date will represent the culmination of a two year long effort to produce the first U.S. National PA Plan. The goal is to kick off a long-term social movement to have more Americans meet federal PA Guidelines. We’re highly encouraged by the attention the Plan and its launch are garnering from top public health officials as well as grassroots organizations at local levels. However, before the some critical steps must be taken, each offering opportunities for individual and organizational involvement.

Draft 1 of the Plan was disseminated for comment in January. Did you see it? If not, please contact us so that you can review and comment on subsequent drafts. Working Groups representing each of the 8 societal sectors targeted in the Plan are now reviewing those comments in preparation for Draft 2, which will be disseminated for comment in mid March.

It is important that this second draft be as widely disseminated as possible. We will engage all those who have been involved in the process to date, as well as those who sign on now in reviewing Draft 2. Once the Draft 2 comments are reviewed and integrated, the final version of the plan will be prepared for the May 3rd launch.

The U.S. National Physical Activity Plan will be a web-based document. This format will allow for ease of use, significant reach, and regular updating as progress is made. A simple click of the mouse will enable a business owner, school principal, urban planner, or elected official to advance any one recommendation action or series of recommended actions.

How would you like to be involved with the National Physical Activity Plan? How can the plan best be implemented?

National Physical Activity Plan for the U.S.

rPate — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:25:00 -0400

As important as the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans are, we know that simply telling people what they should do will not necessarily enable them to act. So, in 2007 I was excited when colleagues at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encouraged me to coordinate the process of developing a National Physical Activity Plan for the U.S. To best enable increases in population levels of physical activity, we must create environments that are conducive to being active. The National Physical Activity Plan will do just that. A primary goal of the Plan is to encourage policy makers to affect activity-supportive change at local, state and federal levels. Proper execution of the Plan will bring about the changes necessary to allow more Americans to meet the Physical Activity Guidelines.

Where did the impetus for the National Physical Activity Plan start? Over the past 15 years physical activity has assumed an increasingly high profile in the public health community…in the U.S. and worldwide. Key landmarks have included production of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health in 1996 and release of the first Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans in 2008. I was privileged to serve on the Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee, and so I believe I understand well the strengths and limitations of the Guidelines. Strengths include a very solid grounding in the pertinent scientific evidence and comprehensive recommendations for all segments of the American society. But, by design, the Guidelines do not address the changes that we need to make in our society to enable many more people to meet the Guidelines.

What changes will you make in your setting to increase the physical activity levels of your family members, friends and neighbors? How might you or your organization become involved in The Plan? If you’re not involved already and want to become so, please contact us.