All-Star Dads
Increasing Men’s Physical Activity Through Cooperative Extension
Programming
Thank you to • Rosie Allen, Peggy Powell, Cheryl Case, Daniel Wilson
Chuck Stamper, Derek Feldman, Mark Swanson, and Laura Stephenson
• Rusty Manseau, Graphic Artist• University of Kentucky• School of Human Environmental Sciences• College of Public Health• Health Education through Extension Leadership (HEEL)• Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS)
• In 1920, women outlived men by an average of one year
• Currently, the national average has women outliving men by 5 years
Why? It’s because men:• Die younger—and in greater numbers—of heart
disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and many other diseases
• Don’t take care of themselves as well as women do• Are more likely to engage in unhealthy behavior• Don’t seek medical attention when they need it• Are less likely to have health insurance• Are more likely to work in dangerous occupations
• 2008 needs assessment of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Extension and Health Education through Extension Leadership (HEEL) programs
• Deficient in areas devoted to men’s health within CES programming
• Developed a work group of researchers in UK Departments of Health Behavior, Kinesiology and Health Promotion, School of Human Environmental Sciences, and Extension agents from Wolfe, Montgomery, Harrison, and Gallatin Counties
• Based on interests, expertise, and background data, we decided to focus on improving men’s physical activity levels in Kentucky
• Utilizing the well-developed strategy of Social Marketing
Cooperative Extension agents are viewed as credible sources of information
As a result of their community linkages Cooperative Extension professionals reach a broad array of audiences
Traditional Audiences of FCS Extension Programming
Traditional Extension audiences know about Cooperative Extension, and choose to be involved
The traditional audience has been involved in Extension programs over a period of years
Traditional extension outreach methods– Face to face delivery– Newsletters– Educational objective/lesson plan driven– General messages used for all audiences
Social Marketing is defined as:• A process that applies marketing principles
and techniques to create, communicate, and deliver value in order to influence a target audiences’ behavior
• Customer – orientation is critical• All four P’s are considered – Product, Price, Place, and Promotion
• Market research is key to success• Results are measured for improvement
Similar to Commercial Marketing
• Not looking for financial gain – looking for societal benefits
• Not looking to sell goods or services – looking to change behavior
• Unlike commercial marketing, messages are usually different from “competitors”
Different from Commercial Marketing
– Audience orientation – learn about your “customers”
– Audience segmentation – tailor campaign towards a specific audience
– Focus on behavior– Exchange – offer the audience something they
want in exchange for the behavior
Key concepts in social marketing
Part 1 – Focus Groups
• Used to help select and understand who and what
• Six focus groups in three counties– One group each with 25-40 years old and 41-55 years
old in each county– Focus groups conducted by male researchers
• Analysis strongly suggested the theme and direction
Formative Research: Focus Groups
• Family responsibility• Setting physical activity as a priority• Financial limitations
Three Main Areas of Focus
Family responsibilities were:
• A barrier to physical activity because it takes time from their children“… for me it depends on how much of that physical activity requires me to be away from home or away from them [the kids] in general.”
• An opportunity to be physically active because their children engaged them“… my interest just fell away from physical activities … [but] I still do physical activities with the kids, you know … Whether I want to or not, they kind of, I have no choice, I gotta chase them down and make sure they’re staying out of trouble… But most of the time, I ride a little bikes here and there with them, and go fishing a lot with them… We swim all the time… That’s about the most physical activity I do anymore is swimming with them.”
Research shows that children with involved fathers:
• do better in school• more likely to graduate high school• have more friends • less likely to smoke, abuse drugs or alcohol, engage in risky
behavior, start having sex early, or become teen parents.
Physical activity as a priority– Range of barriers were discussed (time, weather,
sedentary activities), many respondents agreed that the issue is more setting physical activity as a priority.
Financial Issues• Lack of resources to participate in extracurricular activities
• Working multiple jobs to support family decreased time for physical activity
• Employer sponsored incentives would increase physical activity, i.e. discounts on health insurance for those
who maintain health indicators
Part 2 – Program Development and Implementation
• Focus on men’s physical activity with their children.• Identify father/child activity opportunities that already exist in
the communities• Identify father/child activity opportunities available at low or
no cost• Develop a community-wide marketing campaign to encourage
father/child activity
Strategy Development
Tools• Ads• Scorecard• Kick-off• Dice• Yardsign• Website
Focus on men’s physical activity with their children
• Successes• Challenges
Identify father/child activity opportunities that already exist in the project communities
• Successes • Challenges
Identify father/child activities that are low or no cost within the community
• Successes• Challenges
Develop a community marketing campaign to promote father/child interaction and involvement in physical activity
• Successes• Challenges
Pilot Data
• 149 cards were turned in • Each card totaled a 600 minutes or 10 hours of
physical activity• Multiple cards per family• Variety of physical activities
All-Star Dads Future Development
Different counties – statewide?Discussions of where we should place materials
in countiesEngaging other Cooperative Extension Agents
Lessons Learned• What works for one community will not
necessarily work for another• Message development is a critical component• Focus groups will need to continue throughout
the project to ensure that the message is out there
• Reducing price/changing product to fit with existing extension activities
• Audience: 1. Males –not a traditional audience 2. The framework of social marketing allowed the agents
to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of the male participants
• Focus on Behavior: 1. The concept of developing a tailored message 2. Time consuming and required different perspectives,
skills, and thought processes than the more traditional educational approaches followed by Extension.