Heart&Stroke™ Walkabout

October 29-09

• Led by the HSFNS in partnership with

and

• Goal: To increase the % of Nova Scotians who accumulate at least 30-60 minutes (most days of the week) of walking for recreation and/or transportation

Walkabout’s Vision

• Nova Scotia has a walking culture

Why Walking?

Nova Scotians rated various activities as “very good” for their health. The results were:

– 69% Recreational Activities– 69% Walking or bicycling– 50% Outdoor activities– 49% Competitive Sports – 16% Household chores

Go for Green, National Survey on Active Transportation, 1998

Why ?

• Leader Orientations to inspire and support!• Pedometer Access Program• Rating and Recognition for communities• Advocacy toolkit & workshop• Social Marketing Campaign • Sponsorship• Evaluation• Inventory of walking groups, routes, resources

on www.walkaboutns.ca

Walkabout Leader Orientation

• Become a Heart&Stroke Walkabout Leader! 

• Check the website www.walkaboutns.ca

Walkabout Leader Orientation

• Goal… to provide fun, interactive opportunities to learn and share, leaving participants feeling supported, enthused, and confident to continue to lead or begin to lead an in-person or virtual walking group

• FREE & includes leader toolkit

So far…

• Trained over 74 leaders across province

• Leader Challenges successfully rewarded groups around the province

• Collecting evaluations on leader resources to enhance our leader toolkit

• Developing orientation & resources specific to workplace implementation

Pedometer Access Program

• Pedometer Access Program led by HSFNS in partnership with

and logo CAP sites

What is a Pedometer?

Pedometer Access Program

• Provides access to affordable pedometers for all Nova Scotians

• Complements other Walkabout components. Self-monitoring encourages increased activity levels.

Pedometer Access Program

• Available in all 77 libraries and 173 C@P sites across Nova Scotia

• Loaned like a book

• Interactive Walkabout website

Daily Steps to Health

• Children: 12,000 – 16,000

• Youth: 11,000 – 12, 000

• Adults: 7,000 - 13,000

• Older Adults 6,000 – 8,500

• Adults with chronic disease or disabilities

3,500 – 5,500

Purchasing Pedometers

• Steps-Count

• Toll-free at 1-866-342-2328

• www.stepscount.ca

• mention Walkabout for discount

Rating & Recognition

• intended to inspire, guide, support and celebrate communities working to improve their “walk-ability”– walkability = built, policy and social

environments

• a rating scale applicable and accessible to all Nova Scotia communities in all seasons

• consistent, thorough and credible measures of walkability

Rating & Recognition

• program currently being designed

• municipal feedback is being sought

• The road sign welcoming visitors to your community can proclaim it “Nova Scotia’s most walkable community 2010 verified by Heart&Stroke Walkabout”!

Advocacy Toolkit & Workshop

Two-fold

• Improving walking opportunities

• Build capacity to engage policy advocacy for walking

Advocacy Toolkit & Workshop

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC) outlined recommendations for:

• Canadians

• Governments (all levels)

• Municipal planners

• Developers

Advocacy Toolkit & Workshop

Collaboration to encourage walking:• Business leaders• Community groups• Health professionals• Local politicians• Municipal planners• School boards and• Others

Advocacy Toolkit & Workshop

Importance of the toolkit:

• Highlights processes of municipal planning

• Policy development process

• Policy advocacy process

Advocacy Toolkit & Workshop

Communities are unique so the toolkit serves as a starting point to think about:

• How your community is designed

• What policies you want implemented

• What advocacy outcomes you want to achieve

Social Marketing Campaign

• “Walking Takes You Places”• developed through a comprehensive strategy:• Research stage:

– literature review– key informant interviews– focus groups

Key finding: “walking as health activity” makes people think of barriers, but “walking as a social activity” makes people feel excited and inspired.

Social Marketing Campaign

• Creative stage:– target audience (families and women 28+,

rural and urban, busy!, all shapes, sizes and cultures)

– 2 concepts tested and best concept developed

– communication plan to engage target audience, leverage broad stakeholder support, and maximize earned/unpaid media

Social Marketing Campaign

• Do Nova Scotians think of walking as an everyday activity in their lives?

• Have Nova Scotians changed their walking behaviour due in part to the contributions of Walkabout?

• campaign to run fall 2008 to spring 2009

• ads for TV, web tie-ins, radio, posters, etc.

Sponsorship

• “Good corporate citizens” make Walkabout possible!

• all sponsors recognized via website, events, reports, and other promotional opportunities

• Major and Presenting sponsors also recognized via TV/print media, enhanced website recognition and title sponsorship of select components

Measuring Success

• Evaluation gives us powerful information to tell us how we’re doing and if we’re meeting our objectives

• Without the use of evaluation, we cannot describe to the public, our stakeholders, funders, etc how this initiative is making an impact

• Evaluation plan developed for all components as well as monitoring of key population-level data on walking

www.walkaboutns.ca