June 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 42

BLUE ZONE
young age...and their moai would
grow up together. " In Walla Walla
Valley, the moais consist of walking
groups, " but it's more about
the social connection than it is
about moving, even though moving
is really important, " she says.
In Hawaii, one primary focus
creating
for
healthier communities
has been creating safer streets
to improve walkability and bikeability.
However, in addition to ensuring
there are safe walking and
bike paths, they also have taken a
creative approach. " We do projects
like painted bulb outs [curb extensions].
It creates a focus on the
street where people naturally slow
down when they see it...[which]
makes it safer for people to cross, "
says Delfin. What's more, she says
safe streets lead to opportunities
for students to take part in walking
school buses, or groups of children
walking to school together with
the guidance of adults. Similar to
the moais, this fosters both natural
movement and social connection.
Across the board, the projects
and programs advanced by the
Blue Zones Project are rooted in
the Power Nine®
- nine practices
that are important to integrate into
daily life, in order to enhance overall
health and wellness (see sidebar
on page 41 for more information).
Assessing Community
Need
While all communities can benefit
from health and wellness practices,
the specific needs of any given
community vary widely. In order
to determine how they can best
help to improve well-being within
a community, Blue Zones Project
staff work directly with community
leaders and members to first assess
what types of projects and programs
the community could most
benefit from and are most interested
in participating in.
" As communities are selected,
there is a discovery phase that we
go through to try and see and assess
what's happening in the community
- what areas are their
strong suits and what areas need
most help and improvement, " says
Delfin. " We will hold focus groups
in the community and invite everyone
to come and have a say in what
they want to see done with this
project. That's usually where we
find the leaders in that community
as well, besides the elected officials.
Doing those focus groups, you
identify: 'Who are the key players
in the community? What are the
immediate needs that they want to
see happen?' and 'How can we help
them with that?' "
Thorpe explains that in Walla
Walla Valley, they begin by addressing
the health and wellness
of the people who work for the
city and will be the ones to implement
well-being practices long
term, such as park and recreation
professionals. " We're trying to create
some nice programming and
policies within their work sites, so
that they feel more supported and
healthy, " she says.
Every community has the ability to
implement many of the evidence-based
practices learned through Blue Zones
research and case studies to promote
healthy lifestyles.
42 Parks & Recreation | JUNE 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUE ZONES PROJECT -
WALLA WALLA VALLEY
June 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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