The healthy workplace initiative that Shenaed worked on is a framework for workplaces to implement the changes. The framework includes a workbook which details how workplaces can implement changes to promote exercise and healthy eating. Survey templates are also provided for employees to fill out. The surveys are then returned to them, where they report the findings, and discuss identified problems and possible solutions. I think this is a great idea to promote healthy behaviour in the workplace, and is empowering as the workplaces have to implement this themselves.

Shenaed also had a few issues with her project (as I’m sure everyone else did!). When she was attempting to do her phone surveys she found it difficult to get responses from the involved workplaces. However, four workplaces worked with did have some positive results. Another issue Shenaed had was due to time constraints she could not produce a trainers manual, instead she produced a concept brief.

Overall Shenaed achieved her evaluation, and enjoyed her project and is even continuing to work with them.

Good luck to you, and everyone

Kate

A lot has been happening with my placement. I’ve consulted with various groups  in the community which involve children from the ages of 0-8,  including: the cubs, the Cockatoo Township Committee (CTC), the kinder committee, the childcare centre, the community garden committee, the kiddley gym, and the local primary school. As a result of the community feedback and opinion the following equipment was going to be installed: a rock climbing wall, a triangular rope net, a balance beam and a lifesize kangaroo figurine. In addition to this painted activities on the concrete footpaths for the children were going to be made: painted snake with the letters A-Z, painted ladder with the numbers 1-10 and a picture of a kangaroo with how far it has jumped and saying ‘how far can you jump?’, with the children trying to jump as far as they can.

The rational for the selection of these strategies came from the fact that in order to promote physical activity environmental and policy strategies are needed to change the environment, and constructing equipment that encourages physical activity is one of the best ways to do this (Brownson et al. 2000). Modifying children’s playground equipment is increasingly shown to positively influence children’s physical activity (Ridgers, Fairclough & Stratton 2010). In New Orleans a study found that when children were in a playground their physical activity levels were positively influenced with 66% of them either walking or very active. Furthermore 51% of the children were considered very active, when using an installed play structure (Farley et al. 2008). By installing this equipment for children to use the common barriers to physical activity for children (lack of facilities, lack of adequate space and cost of physical activity) are being addressed (Haerens et al. 2010).

After this extensive consultation process was completed my role was to get quotes on the different prices of all the equipment as we only have a budget of $20,000. As a result of this it was determined that we would have to do the project in stages, as there was not enough money to install all the equipment. In stage one the painted activities will be completed, the rock climbing wall will be installed as will the lifesize kangaroo model. In this meeting we drew up a draft plan of where the equipment and activities will be situated on the reserve, and since this time a draftsman has professionally drawn up these plans. My project is at the implementation stage, meaning my project goal has been achieved!

At placement now I’m trying to complete my report, catch up with my blog posts and attend meetings. After a major change in direction (and a little panicking on my behalf!) all is running smoothly

Kate

References

Brownson, RC, Housemann, RA, Brown, DR, Jackson-Thomson, J, King, AC, Malone, BR & Sallis, JF 2000, ‘Promoting physical activity in rural communities: walking trail access use and effects’, American Journal of Preventative Medicine, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 235-241.

Farley, TA, Meriwether, RA, Baker, ET, Rice, JC & Webber, LS 2008, ‘Where do children play? The influence of playground equipment on physical activity of children in free play’, Journal of Physical Activity and Health, vol. 5, pp. 319-331.

Haerens, L, De Bourdeaudhuij, I, Eiben, G, Lauria, F, Bel, S, Keimer, K, Kovacs, E, Lasn, H, Regber, S, Shiakou, M & Maes, L 2010, ‘Formative research to develop the IDEFICS physical activity intervention component: findings from focus groups with children and parents’, Journal of Physical Activity and Health, vol. 7, pp. 246-256.

Ridgers, ND, Fairclough, SJ & Stratton, G 2010, ‘Twelve-month effects of a playground intervention on children’s morning and lunchtime recess physical activity levels’, Journal of Physical Activity and Health, vol. 7, pp. 167-175.

I haven’t posted in a while so I thought I would let everyone know where I’m at. I’m still consulting with community members, and leading the walking group. The bendigo bank grant application was denied.  The other major thing that happened is that we had a funding opportunity from ‘best start’. Best Start is a program that is targeting children in Cockatoo from the ages of 0-8 years. Best start have $20, 000 which they have to spend in the community of Cockatoo on children of the above age. They can’t give it to a specific group (e.g. a netball club), but to something that will benefit the whole community.

So Marlene (my supervisor) and I, had a meeting with Fiona (the lady from Best Start). From this it was decided that the outdoor exercise staions were not suitable for children of the ages of 0-8, however interpretive signage (signs saying exercises that can be done without any equipment) can be made to suit children from the ages of 0-8. So now what I am doing is widening my consultation of the community to include children between this age and parents of children this age (so the childcare centre, the kinder etc.). I’m going to talk to the children and parents about what activities they like to do without equipment and the best way to design the signs. We are thinking signs with one side being of very good graphics describing the activity (e.g. a starjump) then on the other side a smaller graphic and instructions on how to do it and how many to do depending on fitness level.

Some sugestions I’ve already had for the chidren include starjumps, burpees and hopscotch. Then in a months time we have another meeting with Fiona and discuss the results of my consultation. Fiona is also investigating other possible funding options from for the outdoor exercise stations

Hope everyone else is doing well,

Kate

I haven’t posted what I’m doing in my project for a while as I have been pretty busy, so here is an update. I attended the health promotion forum in Bundaberg and presented my oral there. I found this a great experience and very helpful, as a week later a presented my project again at the community forum in Cockatoo. A forum was held concerning the Cockatoo physical activity group and whether it should be merged with another group called ‘connecting Cockatoo’. This was because the Cockatoo physical activity group, did much more work than just physical activity and it also had poor attendance rates. The forum discussed this. At the forum I got up and presented what I was doing with the physical activity group, so it was helpful that I had done public speaking the previous week in Bundaberg!

I am continuing to consult with members of the community about interpretive signage, and what exercises they like to do. Overall I’m having a positive response from most community members, however I don’t feel that I’m getting enough constructive feedback, but I’m working on it. I have also just finished my first grant application to the bendigo bank for a small grant of $5000. At first I was very stressed and thought that it was very difficult, but once I got my head around it, it wasn’t too complicated. The element I found most difficult was the financial aspect. I had to break down every cost of the project, and get quotes for the installation, manufacturing, signage, materials, which was very complicated. However, after talking to other people including my supervisor and Tanya, it appears that this grant application is actually a very simple one!

Oh every week on Thursdays from 9-10am I am also being a group leader in a community run walking group. It’s not going to well, only 3 people came today, but I’m trying to advertise it more.

I think I have covered everything I am up to!

Kate

These are my thoughts

Kate

Thank you for the feedback I have been receiving! I’m very happy that my presentation went well at the forum and people found it to be a good idea for the community. I have also received positive feedback from my poll with 50% of voters finding it informative, 25% interesting and 25% found it easy to understand.

In regards to rational for the project, this comes from the research paper ‘Strengthening Cockatoo’ which states that the community needs more opportunities for exercise. Furthermore as Cockatoo is a low socio-econmic area this is a very affordable and easy way for people to exercise.

Hopefully the exercise stations are well used!

Kate

Hi everyone,

I think I’ve done a poll

Kate

Hi everyone,

this is an attachment for my HPIP oral. I don’t have any recording as I presented mine at the health forum. I’m trying to figure our how to do a poll now, but I can’t publish it. If someone could help me out by explaining how to do it, it would me much appreciated!!

Thanks,

Kate

I have been investigating the many different health promotion theories. The health belief model stood out the most for me because I have studied it in previous years and it is also one of the most commonly used behaviour change theories (McKenzie, Neiger & Thackerary 2009).  It was developed by a group of psychatrists in the 1950′s, and was further developed in the 1980′s to accommodate evolving evidence about the role that knowledge and perceptions play in personal responsibility for health (McKenzie, Neiger & Thackerary 2009).

The HBM is based on the understanding that a person will take a health-related action if that person:

1. feels that a negative health condition can be avoided

2. has a positive expectation that by taking a recommended health action , he/she will avoid a negative health condition

3. believes that they are capable of successfully completing the recommended health action (Community Initative 2003)

Thus according to the health belief model the components that influence health behaviour change are as follows:

 Perceived susceptibility: The belief someone has about their likelihood of contracting a health condition

Perceived severity: One’s opinion of how serious a health condition and its consequences are

Perceived benefits:  The believed effectiveness of strategies designed to reduce the threat of illness

Perceived barriers: The potential negative consequences that may result from taking particular health actions, including physical, psychological, and financial demands.

Cues to Action: Cues that motivate people to take action

Self efficacy: Confidence in ability to take action

Other variables: demographic, sociopsychological variables and structural variables (Community Initiative 2003)

This theory of behaviour change is applicable to the exercise. A lady is reading a magazine with an article in it about the benefits of exercise (cue to action). There may be other variables that cause her to think about it more (demographic, sociopsychological. structural etc.). The lady knows that she is overweight and eats badly. She also has a family history of heart disease. She decides that she is very susceptible to this condition (perceived suseptability). She knows that heart disease is a life threatening condition (perceived severity). She also knows that exercising regualry can greatly reduce her risk of heart disease (perceived benefit). However, there are no exercise tracks offered by the community and the gym is too expensive for her (perceived barrier). Her own belief in her ability to exercise is also important (self efficacy).

Using this theory we can see that the community health care centre addresses this perceived barrier. It does this by providing walking tracks with exercise staions. This is an easy, inexpensive way for people to exercise.

References

Community Initiative 2003, Health Belief Model, viewed 29 April 2010,

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/27093/303

McKenzie, J, Neiger, BL & Thackeray, R 2009, Planning, implementing, and evaluation health promotion programs, Pearson Education, San Francisco.

So I have been at my placement for about four weeks now. I’ve been going to alot of different meetings and learning about all the many different positions in community health. So far all I’ve done in my project is plan, and research. My first step is doing a needs assessment on different groups in the community. So I’ve written a generic questionnaire, and a template for a group interview. I’ve organised a few which I’m going to do after the school holidays. I’m going to the two primary schools and the key groups in Cockatoo (e.g. kinder commitee, senior citizens etc.). That is going well so far….

Our main issue with planning is where we are going to get our funding from. I think we will get some from the local bank which gives out annual funding but I’m not sure where we are going to get the rest from. I have discovered it is a big issue when working in community health. I have a meeting with the local council memeber for parks victoria, and Marlene (my supervisor) and I are going to explain our proposal for the exercise stations to a few key members. This is another issue, as although Wendy (the council member) was excited, Marlene informed me that there are a lot of difficulties. Our main one being that Cockatoo has a large problem with vandalism, so we have to convince the council that our stations and our signage will be vandal proof, worthwhile to the community, and have little maintenance.

So everything is running smoothly apart from these few issues.

Kate