Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109430

Amy Lyons Sayers, CHES, Center for Tobacco Reduction and Health Improvement, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, PO Box 64560, E-333, St. Paul, MN 55164-0560, 651-662-3378, amy_lyons@bluecrossmn.com

Physical inactivity is the second leading actual cause of death (JAMA, 2000 vol.291, No.10). Traditional approaches encouraging increased physical activity may not be enough to encourage populations to adopt active lifestyles. do is an integrated social marketing campaign that encourages sedentary adults to make small changes and take advantage of the physical activity opportunities already existing in their environments. Partnering with the American Heart Association and local community leaders and officials, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota piloted do in two communities during 2004. Evaluation results are encouraging. At one worksite in a pilot community, stairwell use increased 5.38% (the literature provided an expectation of 4-6%). Message recall in the pilot community was 69.5% compared to less than 25% in the control community. Evaluation results reinforce the literature findings: a multi-faceted community approach with sustained activity that features non-traditional messages (delivered largely through point-of-decision-prompts, mass media, and other guerilla marketing techniques) is able to raise awareness and begin to alter behavior. do employs traditional and non-traditional informational approaches, making it adaptable to a variety of environments, including shopping malls, worksites, parks, and other public spaces.

Learning Objectives:

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• Describe the evidence-based interventions for effective physical activity community-based programs. #
• Articulate the unique tone and types of communication used to promote physical activity and describe the target audience reaction. #
• Analyze a physical activity social marketing campaign; assess the evaluation component, including its unique features; and analyze the campaign’s reach to the population base.

Keywords: Environment, Physical Activity

Related Web page: www.do-groove.com

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation