State Arthritis Program seeking CDC Funding
I am pleased your state’s Arthritis Program is interested in implementing Active Living Every Day (ALED) in organizations and communities throughout your state. I truly believe ALED is an excellent behavior change model that will be especially beneficial for those individuals who are not yet comfortable with the idea of incorporating physical activity into their lives.
There are several resources we have developed to assist with the implementation of ALED.
First, anyone who trains to become a facilitator will receive a facilitator guide with CD-ROM. The facilitator guide is filled with useful information such as additional information about the health education theories behind ALED, overview of the weekly group sessions, ways to prepare for facilitation of ALED, and evaluation of ALED. The CD-ROM is another useful tool your facilitators will receive. The CD-ROM has detailed lesson plans for all twenty sessions of ALED. The lesson plans include key concepts, learning objectives, materials, activities and discussion points, and frequently asked questions for each session. Furthermore, the CD-ROM has information on marketing, budgeting, and recruiting for each session. If you would like to see an example of a lesson plan, please contact me at bhibhad@hkusa.com.
We also have a home page dedicated to ALED providers. The website contains online learning modules for facilitating ALED, behavior change research updates, along with tips and tools for facilitating ALED. In addition, there is the option to set classes up on our webpage. This will make it easier for facilitators when keeping track of participants’ homework, attendance, and other information. We have created easy-to-easy, attractive reports that many of our facilitators have found useful when evaluating their programs. Facilitators can report on attendance, physical activity thoughts, physical activity minutes, steps, and results of the walk test. We also have a bulletin board where facilitators can interact with other facilitators across the world and post questions. Finally, our resource area has our frequently used handouts, facilitation tools, arthritis-specific inserts, and recorded teleconferences. There is reviewer access to our home page. If you are interested in obtaining this information, please contact me at bhibhad@hkusa.com. If you decide to become an ALED facilitator, you will have lifetime access to this page at no additional cost.
We have also improved the ALED Online tools. These tools are more user-friendly and easier to search, plus they are free for participants with the purchase of the book. As providers, we hope the improved ALED program will help facilitators as they market their program and during the class as they facilitate it. If interested in obtaining reviewer access for the ALED Online tools, please contact me at bhibhad@hkusa.com.
In addition, we have created PowerPoint ancillaries to replace the overhead masters that are found on the CD-ROM for facilitators. Since these PowerPoint ancillaries are on the facilitator’s page of the Active Living Web site, it will be easier for facilitators to customize the slides as needed, thereby making it easier to implement ALED.
Coming later in 2008, we’ll have a second edition of the ALED book. Federal physical activities guidelines are now being developed, and we’ll incorporate those new guidelines into the text. Most of the other content will remain the same, with the exception of a few new pictures and/or examples within the book.
Finally, we have monthly teleconferences for our providers. These teleconferences are held the third Tuesday of every month from 12 pm CST (1 pm EST) to 1 pm CST. Often, we have providers who are interested in the information, but cannot attend the call. For their convenience, we record these calls and place them on the facilitator webpage one week after the call. These monthly teleconferences are free to all providers. If you are interested in participating in a call, please contact me at bhibhad@hkusa.com.
We at Human Kinetics are excited about the opportunity of collaborating with the CDC Arthritis program, state arthritis programs, and other local organizations. If you have any other questions, comments or concerns about ALED, please feel free to contact me either by phone (800-747-4457 ext. 2455) or email (bhibhad@hkusa.com).
Bhibha M. Das, MPH
Active Living Partners Program Manager