Step It Up!
- Organization: Oregon Health & Sciences University
- Project Title: Step It Up!
- Program Representative Interviewed: Dr. Cynthia K. Perry
- Location: Oregon
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Program Overview: Step it Up! (SIU) is a community group-based walking program for
adults in Oregon. More than half of the program's participants were older adults. The program was also
offered to people of all ages. Through grant funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research, the
program supports local libraries to establish walking programs in rural communities to increase physical
activity and foster social connections. SIU developed a new toolkit, Step
It
Up: Walking Group Implementation Toolkit, which describes how to implement the program.
Throughout the two-year period, program participants engage in weekly 45-minute walks, 10-minute check-in and 5-minute brief stretching. The program is administered by volunteers, peer-leaders, and librarians. The librarians participated in a brief overview of motivational interviewing to learn how to support behavior change among participants. Librarians and peer leaders also participate in regular webinars to provide each other support, discuss challenges, and find potential solutions.
Because adults and other community members have varying levels of ability, adapting to everyone's needs is a key component of the program. SIU maps walking routes in advance, considering the length, safety, and geography of the route, whether sidewalks are accessible, and weather conditions. Leaders also make sure that nobody is walking alone. By establishing a space for community members to meet people and build relationships, SIU is a promising way to boost social engagement in rural communities. Additionally, SIU distributes t-shirts to each group, creating shared identity between members and increasing awareness of the program in the community.
Program staff evaluate the effectiveness of SIU through measuring improvements in physical activity and fitness, surveys on social connection, and clinical outcomes, like blood pressure.
Key steps include:
- Build partnerships throughout the community, such as with libraries, primary care clinics, and local media.
- Select and map out walking routes with a focus on adapting to the geography, available sidewalks, safety, and weather conditions of the rural area, including wildfires and extreme temperatures.
- Publicize and promote participation in Step It Up! through media publicity and community partnerships.
- Recruit participants through media attention, word of mouth, and promoting the social benefits of participation.
- Organize a kick-off meeting that serves as the first walking group session.
- Facilitate the weekly walking group.
- Build social support among walking group participants by building a shared identity (for example, group t-shirts, creating a group name) and ensuring no one walks alone.
- Maintain walking group and ongoing participation through regular follow-up with group members and encouragement without judgement.
- Recruit, train and support peer walking group leaders, such as librarians and/or volunteers through frequent check-ins and opportunities to share lessons learned.