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In your work under The Trust's Colorado Healthy People 2010 initiative, what are the greatest opportunities and challenges in helping people to make healthy lifestyle choices?
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Kendra Kurihara
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"We have found that the secret to a successful physically active program for 12- to 14-year-olds is to make the activities varied, fun and social. A challenge to engaging youth in healthy life-Photo of Kendra Kuriharastyle choices is the competition we have with television, video games and the sport of "just hanging out." Another challenge is the economic situation of our clients. Many parents work long hours far from home, and most of the youth live in areas with few amenities and no access to safe, fun recreation. Parents would rather their children stay inside when they are at work so they know they are safe. At the same time, one of the biggest opportunities we have in Lake County is the natural resources that surround our community. There are ample hiking and biking trails within close proximity of town, and snow sports are plenty in the winter. A challenge to getting youth outdoors in the summer and winter, however, is whether they have the right clothing, equipment and instruction for the activity. To address this, our organization connects youth with local outdoor recreational resources and helps give them the confidence, skills and equipment to get the most from these experiences." – Kendra Kurihara, Full Circle of Lake County. |
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Kay Rosenthal, PhD, RN
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"The biggest challenge is figuring out how best to reach out to people who aren't already doing healthy things. Toward that end, we have started holding focus groups of people who are 20 or more pounds overweight to get input on how to better reach and motivate that group of individuals. We also have had some wonderful opportunities through collaboration with the community. For example, we have been able to work with local restaurants to put stickers on their menus that denote the Healthy People 2010 recommendations for healthy food items. And we have seen real evidence that when people are successful in making healthy lifestyle choices it definitely makes for huge changes in their lives." – Kay Rosenthal, PhD, RN, Health Educator, Salud Estes Park Healthy People Project. |
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Carol Foust, PhD, LPC
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"In our project, based in Pueblo businesses, the most important challenges include employee time constraints, avoidance and difficulty maintaining healthy Photo of Carol Foustactions. The employees in the first business we worked with were under a great deal of time pressures, which sometimes created a tendency to avoid scheduled classes and activities. Fortunately, we also have numerous opportunities to support our behavior change efforts. All three businesses chosen for the grant activities have strong administrative support and established wellness committees. All employees are allowed to engage in wellness activities on work time, which is imperative to address the time constraints present in our culture today. The grant money also has provided the opportunity to hire qualified health educators to conduct programming based on valid behavior change theory with evidence-based curriculum. As a result of the program, the first business we worked with has hired, with their own funds, a health promotion specialist to continue the efforts started by the grant." – Carol Foust, PhD, LPC, Chair and Associate Professor, Dept. of Exercise Science, Health Promotion & Recreation, Colorado State University – Pueblo |
