Emily Pitts and Maria BowieUniversity of Georgia, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Office of Communications
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Cooperative Extension Banner Program• Identify issue relevant to entire population: Georgia wellness• Create program for simultaneous statewide delivery• Engage communities• Change sedentary lifestyles• Reduce rates of preventable disease
What is Walk Georgia?• 8-week program• Spring and fall sessions• 3-week registration period• Log physical activity online• Activity entered earns “miles”• Miles unlock counties
To date:• 3 full sessions, 1 pilot• ~ 13,500 participants• widespread state adoption
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Development:
• Administrative buy-in • Wellness task force• Distributed content collection• Development team• Pilot study
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Preparation:
• Application preparation• Revisit problem areas (state/task
force)• County implementation• Marketing• Special groups
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
County Implementation:
• Choose how often to implement• Identify county administrator• Seek local sponsorship• Determine local competitions• Interact with local organizations• Support participants• Advertise
www.walkgeorgia.org/promo
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Marketing
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Special groups:
• Schools, senior centers, other large organizations• Special instructions to help with registration – from facilitator to participant• Limited mobility content
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparkleglowplug
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Registration:
• Pre-survey of exercise behaviors• Demographics• Accounts: participant, county administrator, state administration• Participants: teams and individuals• Groups: identify school and other affiliations
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Active Stretching Aerobics Badminton Basketball Biking / Cycling Bowling Calisthenics Canoeing / Kayaking Dancing Dynaband Elliptical trainer Exercise Ball Exercise machine Football Frisbee / Catch Gardening Golf Gymnastics Heavy yardwork Horseback riding Hunting Jump rope
Martial arts Medicine Ball Mowing Pilates Racquetball Running Skating Skiing Soccer Softball Swimming Tennis Volleyball Walking Water Activities Water Jogging Weight lifting Yoga
Activities
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adwriter
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Post-program:
• Post-survey• Completion certificate• Awards to leaders, local recognition• Success stories• Task force roundtable• Formative evaluation• County reporting
Program Evaluation:
• ~4527 registrants per session• ~3095 active participants • Who are they? • Where did they hear about the program?• How satisfied were they?• Would they recommend this to a
friend?
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Successes:
• Enthusiastic public response• Evaluation data accessible on multiple levels • Contact person at state level• Active county administrator• Task force• Engaging special populations• Distributed help team• Personal stories
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Challenges:
• Long-term maintenance• Keeping task force engaged• Confusing mile conversion• Validity of user reporting• County recognition• Supporting web traffic without interrupting service and/or impacting other web services• Rigid program dates• Team size
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Questions?
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension