The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #41737

Rashida R Dorsey, MPH, BS, Robyn A. Housemann, PhD, MPH, and Ross C. Brownson, PhD. School of Public Health, Department of Community Health, Saint Louis University, 347 South Fairmount St, Apartment #3, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, 412-661-8809, rrd3@pitt.edu

People who are physically inactive and overweight are at an increased risk for chronic conditions. Regular, moderately intensive physical activity is now seen to have an impact on the promotion of good health and the prevention of disease. An ongoing project targeting African-Americans in the rural Bootheel region of southeastern Missouri is aimed at increasing physical activity, specifically walking via the promotion of walking trails, and reducing chronic disease rates in this low income, medically underserved rural community. Approximately 70% of this community does not meet the recommended physical activity levels. Walking is the most common reported leisure-time physical activity in the United States, in particular among typically inactive groups. One strategy to increase walking is to reduce environmental barriers, in particular the establishment and renovation of walking trails. Traditional research designs are not appropriate for evaluating trail usage: a mechanism for conducting a process evaluation was needed. To evaluate walking trail usage, a new unobtrusive method, the electronic usage counter/card reader, was employed in the Bootheel. The purpose of the counter is two-fold; to monitor general use with an infrared counter and to collect data on individual trail users. The electronic counter reduces self-report bias and allows for continuous monitoring of the trails without the need for personnel. Preliminary results indicate that different communities within the Bootheel region prefer to walk at different times. Data from the counter is combined with other data such as weather and events at the trail to establish determinants of trail usage.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) Recognize problems associated with traditional community based interventions and learn about an innovative approach aimed at getting around those problems
• 2) Identify the benefits of unobtrusive measurement to monitor walking trail usage
• 3) Describe the general patterns of walking trail usage and determine potential correlates for increasing usage

Keywords: African American, Physical Activity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.