Active Options Online Access to Physical Activity Programs Serving Older Adults in North Carolina ww

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Active Options Online Access to Physical
Activity Programs Serving Older Adults in North
Carolinawww.activeoptions.org

• Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
  the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
  and the Comprehensive Health Education
  Foundation. NC Active Options is a project of the
  NC Healthy Aging Research Network.

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Goals

• By reviewing this material, the user will learn
• The history of the Active Options project and the
  key partners involved
• How Active Options can help your communities,
  particularly the older adults in your communities
• What the Active Options site looks like
• How Active Options will be launched in
  communities

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Founding Partners

• National Council on Aging (NCOA)
• PRC Healthy Aging Research Network (PRC-HAN)
• Comprehensive Health Education Foundation
  (C.H.E.F.)
• CDCs Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• National Blueprint

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What is Active Options?

• A web-based survey AND searchable database of
  community physical activity programs for adults,
  with special emphasis on older adults.
• Overall goal Improve access to information about
  physical activity programs, especially those
  serving older adults.

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Why Active Options?

• Many people know they should increase their
  levels of PA, they just dont know where to go.
• Active Options helps them find the programs they
  want need.
• Locates programs provides specific program
  information (e.g., time, location, contact info)
• Identifies programs specifically for older adults
  as well as for all adults
• Helps organizations reach more participants for
  free!
• Allows physical activity leaders, planners,
  researchers, policy makers identify program
  gaps

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Physical Activity and Older Adults

• About 28-34 of adults ages 65-74, and 35-44 of
  adults ages 75 and older are inactive. They do
  not exercise or take part in leisure time
  physical activities (Bylina et. Al., 2006).
• Between 1998 and 2004, physical activity
  increased for the entire 50 age group. BUT,
  recent data comparing 2003 to 2004, showed an
  across-the-board decline in physical activity
  among people 50 and older (AARP, 2005).
• Women 50 and older are more than twice as likely
  as 50 men to frequently or occasionally miss
  activities due to a lack of transportation.

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Why is Active Options an important tool?

• Findings from Exercise Attitudes and Behaviors A
  Survey of Midlife and Older Adults (AARP, 2002)
• 28 feel there are not many physical activity
  programs in their communities
• 24 stopped taking part in physical activity
  programs because they were in inconvenient
  locations
• 13 have never taken part in physical activity
  programs because there are no facilities
  available.
• 15 believe that facilities that are more
  centrally located would make it easier to take
  part in physical activity.

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History of Active Options

• Healthy Aging Network Study (S.L. Hughes, B.
  Williams, L.C. Molina, C.Bayles, L.L. Bryant,
  J.R. Harris, MD, R. Hunter, S. Ivey, K. Watkins.
  (2005) Characteristics of Physical Activity
  Programs for Older Adults Results of a Multisite
  Survey. The Gerontologist 45667-675)
• Partially funded by NCOA to test the feasibility
  of collecting program data
• Developed in 02-03 by researchers, with input
  from community advisory groups and physical
  activity experts
• Conducted in 7 communities throughout 03 04
• Included questions about contact person, types of
  facilities, target population, types of programs,
  fees, etc.

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History contd

• RWJF funded NCOA to conduct a census of PA
  programs
• Get in SHAPE Chicago! Shape Up! King County
• www.shapeupkingcounty.org an early web-based
  inventory of PA programs for older adults,
  modeled on www.shapechicago.org
• Provided great launching points for the web-based
  census, Active Options
• NCOA partnered with the HAN (led by the
  University of Washington) CDC to adapt the
  SHAPE survey to a web-based format

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3 Steps From Program Entry to Program Query

• Step 1 Community organizations create an account
  complete the survey for their physical activity
  programs
• Step 2 The program is confirmed by a local
  Community Champion and is listed in the
  searchable database
• Step 3 Older adults, health care providers,
  Information and Referral specialists, and others
  visit the Active Options site to find physical
  activity programs in their communities

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Step 1 Program Entry/Survey

• Community provider visits Active Options home
  page
• Selects community
• Completes survey Approx. 15 to complete
• Can save and continue later
• Information must be updated at least once a year,
  but more often if necessary.

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Active Options Home Page
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Physical Activity Providers View 1
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Physical Activity Providers View 2
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Physical Activity Providers View 3
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Examples of Items Addressed in the Survey

• How do you describe your organization?
• City/County Parks Rec, Community Center,
  Hospital, Sr. Center, etc.
• Please indicate if you offer any of the following
  programs Active Choices, A Matter of Balance,
  Active for Life, etc.
• Please indicate the different types of programs
  offered aerobic exercise, stationary equipment,
  water aerobics, yoga, free weights, etc.
• What percentage of your PA program participants
  fall into the following age categories?
• Under age 20, Ages 21-34, Ages 35-39, Age 60 and
  older

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Step 2 Community Champions

• Community Champions (CC) are being identified for
  geographic regions states, counties, or major
  metro areas
• CCs are leaders in aging, PA, and/or public
  health
• A CC or team of CCs will coordinate local
  activities for each geographic region
• Programs are reviewed for legitimacy and
  validated for posting by the regional CC
• The Active Options site includes a section for
  CCs
• Tools resources to help CCs manage the roll-out

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Sample Promotional Materials

• West Virginia Postcard

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Step 3 Database Query Functions

• People will be able to search the database by zip
  code, type of activity, etc.
• Collecting addresses of program sites so they can
  be displayed on a map
• Authorized people (e.g., AAA programmers, IR/A
  specialists) will be able to download the
  information into a printable directory of PA
  programs
• Data can be analyzed to identify
• Areas with inadequate programming
• Types of programs that are available in a
  community

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Database Query Function 1st Page
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Up-to-date Information

• Program providers are required to update program
  info at least 1x/yr, but can update more
  frequently if they prefer
• Features
• CCs will send an email notification of yearly
  deadline
• Program will be temporarily removed from the
  searchable database after one year until the
  update is received

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Roll-out of Active Options

• Beta testing took place through the entire state
  of WV, and 6 rural counties in TX (Jan March,
  2006)
• Community Champions (CC) are being identified for
  geographic regions states, counties, or major
  metro areas
• CCs are leaders in aging, PA, and/or public
  health
• A CC or team of CCs will coordinate local
  activities for each geographic region
• Programs are reviewed for legitimacy and
  validated for posting by the regional CC
• Active Options includes a section for CCs
• Tools resources to help CCs manage the roll-out

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Role of the Community Champions

• 3 Key Tasks
• Task 1 Coordinate local AO launch activities in
  their region
• Create a brief plan for the launch in their
  region
• Establish organizational and individual partners
• Identify PA program sites Search websites,
  yellow pages, white pages, etc.
• Create marketing materials May include
  working with local print, radio, and television
  media
• Contact sites via postcards, letters, phone
  calls, etc.
• If necessary, provide assistance in completing
  the survey
• Follow-up with sites that do not respond to first
  contact
• Maintain database of sites those that have been
  contacted, those that have responded, those that
  have received follow-up contacts, due date for
  updating program information, etc.

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Role of the CC contd

• 3 Key Tasks contd
• Task 2 Validate completed surveys
• Regularly (at least weekly) log onto the CC
  Section of the AO site to see if new surveys have
  been completed
• Briefly review the contact information for the
  sites that have completed surveys to determine if
  they are legitimate
• Validate the surveys (This will make the programs
  available in the public database.)
• Task 3 Send e-mail reminders to sites that have
  not updated their program information by the
  one-year deadline.

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Community Champions Website Section

• Toolkit guidance, templates, resources, and
  examples
• View and validate program providers that have
  started and/or completed the survey
• Upload logo
• Add questions to the survey
• Download data
• Bulletin Board to encourage CCs to share their
  lessons learned and ask questions of their fellow
  CCs

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To learn more about Active Options in North
Carolina, please contact

• Content is adapted from a presentation by
• Nancy Whitelaw, PhD, Director, NCOAs Center for
  Healthy Aging (CHA)
• Serena Sanker, MS, Senior Program Associate, CHA
• Dina Jones, PT, PhD, Assistant Professor in
  Orthopaedics Physical Therapy AND Director of
  Clinical Research, Department of Orthopaedics at
  West Virginia University

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QUESTIONS?

• Nc-ao_at_earthlink.net