Today during my Program Promotions class we were discussing social marketing and this community wide program in Albert Lea, MN came up in conversation. Although it is about a year old, almost all of the class had no idea about it; most of this class containing students who are natives of MN. I thought it was very interesting and motivating for an entire community to back something this positive and I wanted to share it with everyone.
Minn. Town Gets Healthy Makeover, Adds Longevity, Together
Summary:
At the beginning of 2009 the city of Albert Lea, MN embarked on a 10 month program that was established to improve the quality of life for the residents of its entire city. This idea was hatched by a man named Dan Beuttner and backed by The AARP and The United Health Foundation, these two organizations raised and donated a majority of the funding that was required for this cause. The city completed approximately 5 years worth of walking path and sidewalk building in about a year, encouraged restaurants to provide healthy alternatives and healthy food on their menus, and made wholesome foods more available to the cities 18,000 residents. Following the completion of this experiment, individuals who completed a survey referred to as the "vitality compass" at both the beginning and the end of this process were said to have added approximately 3.1 years to their lives.
I am surprised that I haven't heard of this either. I can't believe that Albert Lea was able to complete 5 years of eco-friendly upgrades in just one year! Another fact that really jumped out at me was that this community added 3.1 years onto their lives just by completing this experiment. This was a great article. Good find!
ReplyDeleteAdam,
ReplyDeleteI also haven't heard of this until now! What great community initiative! Very impressive for an entire town to join together to make this happen, great article!
Adam, I remember talking about this in class but it was great to read the full article! This reminds me of a presentation I went to at a health conference that discussed a similar community strategy. They basically worked with the entire community and its major institutions, to fight obesity. It was an approach that I had never heard of before. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteAdam,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this with us all. I hadn't heard of this until you posted but I really like the idea that the town came together to do all this! I especially like the idea of encouraging restaurants to add healthier food options, I think we could all probably benefit from that here in Duluth as well.
I also was intrigued by this when it was mentioned in class. Thanks for providing the rest of the article!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great article. It's amazing what changes can be conquered when it is taken on by a whole community rather than individually. I think if more people heard about this article and could see the actual impact it had on the residents lives, others would be more inclined to make the same changes.
ReplyDelete