Active Canada 20/20: Speak up now!

Last week I had the honour to help facilitate a consultation on the Active Canada 20/20 National Physical Activity Strategy at Alberta’s Action on Wellness Symposium. For those who may not be familiar with Active Canada 20/20, I would definitely encourage you to check out the website.

This strategy is being developed by a steering committee of organizations and stakeholders around the country who feel that Canada needs a physical activity strategy. Other countries have strategies (e.g., USA, Scotland) and we need one too.

The goal is to provide clear direction and vision on helping to increase physical activity opportunities and reducing sedentary behaviours. It is planned that this strategy will be presented to the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers responsible for physical activity in their jurisdiction in April 2012.

During the summer months there was an online survey to gather feedback on the Strategy. Now the steering committee is taking the consultation process further by hosting facilitated consultations in many of the provinces and territories. Alberta was fortunate enough to host the 3^rd consultation just last week in Banff.

As you might guess, the purpose to the consultation was to get some direct feedback from practitioners and decision makers in the physical activity field on the Active Canada 20/20 strategy. It was a very busy three hour facilitation process, but fantastic to hear all the ideas and suggestions that emerged.

By chance or luck, there was a large group of high school students who were able to participate. What a fantastic addition to the process! Even though some of the concepts being discussed were at a policy and organizational level, many of these students were able to provide clear and original suggestions.

Currently the Active Canada 20/20 is in draft format, so this is the perfect time for YOU to provide some feedback of your own. So, even if you did not make it to the consultation process, I encourage you to review the strategy and share your ideas and suggestions.

You can access the most current draft here: http://www.activecanada2020.ca/home/documents

And you can provide feedback to this email: info@activecanada2020.ca

Policy change- ensuring legacy

At the end of September I attended a meeting where organizations who received funding could share their successes. It was an interesting day- and I was able to hear a lot about some of the great work that is happening in our province.

One of the keys things I heard that day came from 3 of the funded projects. Two of these projects involved working with the schools and school district and another project was with the Edmonton Boys and Girls club. The school projects were working towards a comprehensive school health, while the Boys and Girls club was running an after school program that had healthy snacks and physical activity. It was neat to hear about their success and also how they often had similar difficulties. As with all funding projects, the money comes to an end. We often hear that an excellent program disappears once the money is gone, which often leaves us questioning what impact does this kind of funding have.

These groups all discussed the importance of planning for sustainability of the project. From the very beginning of the project they were planning for when the money was coming to an end.

When asked how they worked to ensure sustainability, all three projects discussed the importance of policy being involved.

A good example was with the Boys and Girls club and their Healthy for Life-Cool Moves project. This project ran a program where they encouraged healthy eating, participating in physical activity and empowered the kids to make changes in their life, their families and in their community.

After some initial struggle to get Cool Moves working, the Boys and Girls club decided that in order for this program to be successful organizational policies needed to change. They decided that healthy food and regular physical activity should be a PART of ALL their programs events and activities (regardless of funding). This became part of the policy of the club.

They also decided that how staff was trained needed to change. Now, all staff (regardless of the program or event they ran) received training regarding healthy food choices and providing physical activity opportunities.

By having these changes occur at the policy level- providing healthy food and physical activity became the norm- no the exception.

Now, as the funding for the project has drawn to a close, the Cool Moves program is still operating. Yah! Even if this particular program does struggle to live, it has left a legacy with the whole Boys and Girls Club. In its wake it has ensured that all current and future programs will only provide healthy food options and to include physical activity. And that is something to be very proud of.

Beyond workplace challenges

Lately my mind has been thinking about physical activity promotion in the workplace. So I thought I would write a little about it.

In order for workplaces to see success in physical activity promotion is by getting management buy in and support. Without management behind initiatives the ability to “change the culture” of the workplace will be lot harder.

Also, physical activity in the workplace does need to be more than simply an event or activity challenge. These events and activities are important plus can be a lot of fun and a great way to improve moral. But other initiatives (less exciting, unfortunately, than a 10,000 Steps challenge) need to take place if you want workplace to fully support physical activity.

For example, one level where change should be conducted is with the workplace policies. Long term changes and on- going support can occur if employers look to change or add policies and strategies that do promote physical activity. The nice thing about addressing policy changes is that both small to large companies are able to do this.

What might strategies, at a policy level, that promote physical activity look like? Well here are some examples for you taken from our Physical Activity @ Work website. I hope they can offer some inspiration.

·Offer flex time for physical activity. Invite employees who actively commute to work or exercise at lunch to make up any missed time later in the day.

·Allow staff to work part time, so that they can participate in physical activity.

·Include a physical activity account in your benefit plan to pay for or subsidize fitness memberships, assessments, classes, counseling or instruction.

·Provide interest-free loans for employees to buy bicycles or good walking shoes/runners.

·Recognize employees who participate in physical activity. Survey employees first to determine how they prefer to be recognized, e.g., through company newsletters, appreciation lunches, rewards and/or thank you notes.

·Provide child care and other family-friendly amenities during physical activities that occur after work.

·Avoid scheduling meetings over lunch.

·Encourage active breaks instead of coffee breaks.

·Have active fundraisers rather than bingos. For example, employees might climb the Calgary Tower stairs or take turns riding a stationary bike for 24 hours.

·Make birthday celebrations active times. Instead of a lunch, invite the birthday person to choose an activity. Options could include a session with a yoga instructor or an evening ski trip.

·Promote a casual dress day. One study found that employees who dress casually were more physically active.