Parks, Public Health, and Partnerships

1. Parks, Public Health, and Partnerships Kathy J. Spangler, CPRP NRPA Marketing Director NCPPA President

2. Imagine the Synergy • What historical figure is considered by many as the father of Urban Planning, Public Health, and the American Park Movement? • The apparent unnatural alliances that are promoted when parks and health are spoken in the same breath have a true heritage in the building of our American way of life.

3. Environment and Behavior • We have engineered activity out of our lives • Parks are perceived as unsafe • Unintended barriers to physical activity abound • Satellite schools • Communities without sidewalks • Urban design emphasizes travel by car • Neighborhoods access has been reduced • Our lifestyles are hectic with little room for leisure – we are stuck in perpetual rest and relaxation!

4. Public Health and Urban Planning have taken different paths • Urban Design since World War II has become progressively automobile oriented and sprawl has resulted • Public Health has served individually oriented health education and health promotion efforts while regulatory and policy approaches have been limited outside of food and environmental safety

5. Renewed Natural Alliance • Public Health has adopted ecological, inter-sectorial approaches to policy and environmental efforts. • Urban Design has started to focus on health benefits and the harm that urban design and transportation investments can have on livability and quality of life.

6. Public Health Alerts • Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity • President’s Report on Better Health for Youth through Physical Activity and Sport • Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Obesity • Healthy People 2010 • Memorandum of Understanding • National Park Service & Centers for Disease Control • National Recreation and Park Association and US Dept of Heath and Human Services

7. The Facts of Barriers and Lifestyles • Walking rates are declining while the number of overweight adults is climbing • Children are walking less and more are becoming overweight • Physical activity and overweight/obesity are at the top of Leading Health Indicators • Onset of Type II Diabetes among Children growing

8. Strategic Positioning • Parks and Recreation represent the only public sector resource that contributes both access to environments for activity and behavioral opportunities for physical activity on such a grand scale • Parks are destinations, weekend getaways, and where we live, work, and play…they are ubiquitous to the American Way of Life

9. Why Health and Parks • It is about livability and quality of life…it is also about pay me now or pay me later in health care costs. • The benefits of a healthy environment, individuals, communities, and economy are directly tied to how active our lifestyles are and to what extent these public resources contribute and we must be willing to measure our impact. • It is reflected in everything we do and we must rise to support engaging populations with limited access and extend opportunities strategically across jurisdictional boundaries.

10. A Partner in the Process • Active Community Environments and NPS Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Programs • Hearts N Parks with National Institutes of Health • State Health Department Block Grant Funding for Promoting Physical Activity

11. Parks as Health Promotion • The US Secretary of Health has called for more parks and playgrounds to promote physically active lifestyles. • The Call to Action on Obesity and Overweight calls for safe and accessible recreational facilities for all age groups • The President’s Report on Better Health for Youth calls for increased opportunities for non-school recreation • The #2 reason the public visits government websites is to obtain recreation information

12. Connecting the Dots • 1. The Park and Recreation Industry must position itself as a collective asset for health • 2. All venues must engage in added-value strategies for programming, promotion, and performance objectives to improve health • 3. Partnering for Health- serving as a catalyst and facilitator for policy and performance shifts • 4. Re-connecting with our core values and benefits and engaging our systems in change

13. Incremental Advancement • Existing parks can do a better job of informing, inviting, and engaging casual users to increase healthy behaviors • Signage can offer cognitive connections to health and further inform, educate, and engage • Concessions can offer more healthy choices • Showcase pleasure, purposeful, playful aspects of parks to describe health benefits • Leadership- rangers can be role models/messengers • Birdwatching Scenario

14. Policy Advocates • Capitalizing on critical mass efforts for policy change- NCPPA efforts • Reversing unintended barriers to physical activity for populations with low rates of activity • Increasing the adoption of activity-friendly community models (community indicators due soon) • Implementing active lifestyle incentives for worksite, community, and school settings

15. Our Infrastructure is World Renowned • Our public parks and recreation resources must rise to the challenge of improving America’s health • It only takes leadership and fortitude • This is not about US it is about stewardship • ……”It is about distant effects” Frederick Law Olmsted

16. Making it Happen • State Park systems can benefit from collaboration with State Health Departments • State Tourism Departments depict parks in advertising- influence the health aspects • Economic Development in the future will be tied to healthy environments for business