Success Story: The Healthy Activities for Wake County Youth CD-ROM Project
The Healthy Activities for Wake County Youth CD-ROM project was developed in response to the increasing prevalence of childhood overweight in Wake County. It provides physicians with a searchable database that includes over 1100 entries for physical activity opportunities for children through age 18. The programs included on the CD are available through the local parks and recreation departments in Wake County. This tool enables pediatricians to refer patients to affordable, non-sport related activities in their own communities. The user-friendly design allows the physician to enter the patient’s age and the specific community, and to then retrieve a list of all activities available by age and area specified. The physician can print the list of activities for the patient and/or parent(s). The family can then leave the office with specific information about where and how to access these programs.
This project was created by the Wake County Health Department’s Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Program, the NC Recreation Resources Service and local Parks and Recreation Departments.
"[The CD] provides an opportunity to better dialogue with parents about the importance of physical activity and a healthy weight."
David Damsker, MD
The Road to Success
The first step in the process was securing funding. The original funding for the CD-ROM project came through the Wake County Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Program. NC Statewide Health Promotion Program funding combined with local monies were used to facilitate the completion of the CD. A NC State Extension and Engagement Grant was secured from October 2004 through June 2005.
Once funding had been secured, attention was turned to compiling the large amount of data needed to make the CD a truly useful resource. Data was first collected from 12 recreation departments in Wake County. This information included listings of all non-sport, physical activity-related programs for children ages 0-18 that were offered by the municipal parks and recreation departments.
Upon completion of the data collection and database development, the Recreation Resource Service contracted with NC State's Creative Services to develop the Healthy Activities for Wake County Youth CD-ROM.
Once developed, the CD-ROM was piloted with three physicians and one head nurse working with Wake Health Services Pediatric Clinic. Results from the pilot indicated that the Healthy Activities for Wake County Youth CD-ROM strengthened the capacity of clinic physicians to become more family centered. It was the first database in Wake County that dealt with meeting the need for referral sources for primary care physicians.
Through this project, the number of non-sport related activities available for children and families increased in Wake County. Additionally, public awareness and use of non-sport related physical activities increased in local parks and recreation departments. Finally, primary care physicians were provided referral resources needed to positively impact childhood overweight.
Future plans for the project include making it Web accessible and comprehensive to include all ages and all activities. Additionally, Wake County greenways will be integrated into the database.
Stepping Stones...
Partnerships are the key to success. The partnership between Wake County Human Services, NC State Recreation Resource Service and Wake County Parks and Recreation Departments allowed this project to be a success. Each group worked together and utilized their resources to create and implement the CD Project.
Challenges that had to be overcome included:
- Deciding what data to collect and determining the parameters of the information.
- Gathering up-to-date information from the park and recreation departments.
- Determining the best method of implementing the CD-project into
Contact Information
Name, Title: Sarah Plentl, Public Health Educator
Agency: Wake County Human Services
Address: 10 Sunnybrook Rd.
City, State, Zip: Raleigh, NC 27610
Phone: 919-250-4731
Fax: 919-250-3059
Email: sarah.plentl@co.wake.nc.us
