A rural community coalition's movement toward sustainable, community-wide, physical activity programming and places

Introduction

To address the lack of physical activity opportunities and places in their rural community, a non-profit coalition was formed from a small, grassroots group of parents and community leaders. Framing their mission as efforts to build community capacity and address health disparities, they secured federal and private funding for staff and programming expenses, and began offering physical activity programming. The purpose of this study was to investigate the coalition’s effectiveness in moving toward sustainable, community-wide, physical activity programming and places for all community members.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews, focus groups, informal conversations, and observations were conducted over three years in this longitudinal study. Participants included coalition members, program staff, and community members. Qualitative data were inductively coded into emergent themes.

Results

Diverse, strong leadership plus informal policies and partnerships were two emergent themes pointing toward the coalition’s success. In forming the coalition’s Board of Directors, community members with various points of view and expertise were invited to compliment the small, but strong staff.  Also, since no recreational facility existed and places for programming were shared with the schools, positive relationships between the coalition and public school administrators were instrumental.

Conclusion/Discussion

The development of grassroots groups of community coalitions can be an effective strategy for addressing public health in a rural community with limited human, financial, and physical resources. Unique findings in this study highlight that community members who mobilize around a common mission are more likely to share resources, connect community assets from within, and achieve sustainability.