The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #61494

Cathy Ludwig Bell, PhD, RD¹, Keri Jupka, MPH¹, Vicki L. Collie¹, Caren Bacon, BA¹, Angela Herman, BS, MPA², and Matthew W. Kreuter, PhD, MPH¹. (1) Health Communication Research Laboratory, Saint Louis University, 3545 Lafayette Avenue, 408 Salus Center, St. Louis, MO 63104, 3149774048, bellcl@slu.edu, (2) Bureau of Chronic Disease Control, Cardiovascular Health Program, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, 920 Wildwood, P.O. Box 570, Jefferson City, MO 65102

Gathering and using community-level data for program planning is essential to sound practice in public health education. This presentation will describe how a handheld palm device was used to streamline this process in a project promoting walking to school among elementary-age children. An initial step in planning the walking program was to conduct a “walkability” assessment of the neighborhoods surrounding elementary schools and identify environmental conditions and traffic patterns that act as deterrents to children walking to school. The “walkability” assessment examined environmental characteristics in five categories: sidewalks, street crossings, driver behavior, safety, and aesthetics. Health educators went into communities to observe characteristics directly, and record their findings. Observations were made on a block-by-block basis within a one-mile radius of each school. To make it easier to gather such information, we developed a simple data collection tool using a handheld Palm computer. Using Filemaker-Pro-Mobile, we created a database on the Palm computer allowing observations to be entered by touching a button or pull-down menu on a series of data entry screens. Results from observations were downloaded from the Palm computer to a database that could generate summary reports. Different health educators used the Palm to gather data from neighborhoods surrounding 21 elementary schools across Missouri during summer and fall, 2002. Their impressions of working with the tool, advantages and disadvantages, and recommendations for improvement will be discussed. This innovative strategy helped streamline data collection in community settings and could prove to be more efficient in qualitatively assessing other environmental indicators.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize advantages and disadvantages of using common and affordable technology in data collection.
• Identify critical environmental indicators that assess “walkability” to and from school.

Keywords: Physical Activity, Technology

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.