Taking sound steps: a community partners to promote walking among older adults

Parks & Recreation, July, 2004 by Allen Cheadle, Trevor Gregg, Karen Lewis, Sheryl Schwartz, Julie Walwick

Building Capacity

The original vision of Sound Steps was to be primarily led by volunteers, with minimal involvement by the parks and recreation staff. Developing a strong volunteer base for a walking program would build capacity in Parks and Recreation programming, as well as provide a means for older adults to feel useful and engaged.

One staff person spoke of the positive experience of the Sound Steps older adult volunteers and the benefits of the connections they made: One of my volunteers, a former nurse, helped register two women who had just lost their husbands. She kept in touch with them to make sure they were OK. When the volunteers registered the people, they got the human stories. The people who came to walk, they had a story to tell. They felt more rapport with a senior who has gone through this already.

For adults over 65, volunteering has been shown to lower depression levels because of increased social contact, and is also a positive response to the frequently diminished roles of older adults. Empowering the older adults as volunteers was an important secondary benefit to Sound Steps.

Recruitment for this pilot was a success, with close to 500 participants signing up during the one-week registration period in May. Walkers discussed ways in which they, as current Sound Steppers, could act as ambassadors for the program. Simply being a visible presence in the neighborhood helps to plant the seed for others to join. They spoke of inviting their neighbors and talking about the program at neighborhood council meetings or in their faith communities.

HAP partner organization AARP contributed to recruitment efforts by sending 5,000 postcards to their members in the zip codes immediately surrounding the community center hosts of Sound Steps. This mailing, along with other publicity campaigns, reached people not previously involved in park and recreation programs.

Ultimately, professionals from pubic health organizations, senior service, and park and recreation departments have similar goals regarding the health of their communities; therefore, blending their unique areas of expertise is a good recipe for a successful health-promoting program, such as Sound Steps. Sound Steps was strengthened by drawing on the technical, financial and in-kind support of the member organizations, as well as accessing a broad audience through the membership of partnering agencies. Coalitions that focus on aging services exist in many areas, and departments of parks and recreation programs could tap these partnerships by contacting their local Area Agency on Aging.

Lessons Learned

Based on the Sound Steps experience, here are suggestions for others attempting to build a volunteer-driven walking program for seniors:

* Partner with other service providers that work with older adults as a potential source of volunteers. This collaboration is one way to increase capacity for both organizations. Senior centers are a gathering spot for many older adults. Park and recreation programs could augment the programs offered by senior centers while benefiting from the increased exposure and building a volunteer base for walking programs.