Part 6: Case Studies: Case Study 3
A Guide for Custom Community Intervention Planning

 Case Study #3, A Neighborhood Gets Fit

Background Information: You are a member of the local neighborhood association. Poppy Place is a section of town with 50 homes and about 150 residents (adults and kids). There are no sidewalks, and most homes are on fairly busy streets. At a recent Poppy Place neighborhood association meeting, you noticed that many of the adults were complaining that they are out of shape, and barely get any opportunity to exercise or even to be physically active with their kids. Most said that over the last few years their weight has also been creeping up.

Instead of discussing garbage pick-up at this meeting, you head a discussion about what could be done to increase the opportunity for physical activity in Poppy Place.

Environmental Assessment and Intervention Planning
	Step		Your Plan
1	Define the problem.		Most adults are physically inactive, and feel that their surroundings prohibit them from getting regular physical activity and exercise
2	Define your community.		Poppy Place Neighborhood
3	Define your audience.		Adults residing in Poppy Place
4	Who are your partners?		Neighborhood association Town council School board
4a	Assemble your partners.		Neighborhood associate president Volunteer from town council Volunteer from town school board
5	What dimension(s) of the environment is the team going to assess?		Built (adding sidewalks or walking trails to the neighborhood) Built (gaining access to school gym for after-hours activities) Social (making early morning or evening activities a regular social event) Social (willingness of workers to take breaks)
6	What data collection methods, tools, and strategies will be used?		Walkbability checklist Bikability checklist Getting the Lay of the Land Social Support Surveys for Diet and Exercise Behaviors
7	How are you going to use the information you collect?		Presentation to neighborhood association Presentation to town planning board Presentation to school board
7a	Gain community support and confirm that they see the problem as you and your partnership team see it.		All adults in the neighborhood agree that something needs to be done to increase safe physical activity opportunities
8	Identify opportunities for environmental change.		Although the association would love sidewalks or walking trails, it is too expensive an endeavor for the town right now Painting bike lanes on roadways is possible but also expensive Gaining access to school gymnasiums in the early morning or in the evenings is another possibility
9	Select an intervention strategy.		Have the neighborhood elementary school open its gymnasium from 6 - 8am, and again from 5 - 9pm for neighborhood members
10	Plan your evaluation.		Track utilization of gymnasium at 3, 6 and 9 months Pre-post survey of adults, looking at physical activity Pre-post survey of adults, looking at weight
11	Plan your intervention.		Will formally pitch idea to school board at first meeting of the school year Once approved, and once access issues are worked out, communication will be put out to the neighborhood via emails, flyers, and announcements in local newspaper

 Other Case Studies

See these case studies also:

• Case Study #1, A Worksite Weight Problem: Modify the offerings in a cafeteria.
• Case Study #2, Walking at Work: Encourage activity in a corporate setting.

Next Step: Part 7: References and Other Resources

Last Update 1.11.06

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