January 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 35

Success
Through WIC
The Rec Rx prescriptions given out
through the WIC program have resulted in a high follow-up rate of 90
percent. The County tentatively attributes this to the following:
t Patient visits take place inside the
community center. This results in
a high convenience factor for registration as well as constant exposure to classes.
t WIC nurses see many patients below preteen age who are easier to
engage in new activities.
t WIC nurses see patients on a
semi-regular basis, which makes
it possible to build trust and form
closer relationships.

County of San Diego Department of
Parks and Recreation.
More than 30 recreation classes
were made available to Lakeside
patients through a $5 copay system.
The County further reduced cost barriers by providing free programs, including ranger-led hikes, a " Fit Kids "
program via the Healthy Adventures Foundation and a brochure-led
TRACK Trails program developed
by Kids in Parks.
Through detailed training sessions,
the County successfully engaged
eight healthcare providers for the expansion, including four doctors with
NHC Lakeside, two " home visit "
nurses employed by County of San
Diego Health and Human Services,
and two nurses providing weekly
health services at the Lakeside Community Center via the American Red
Cross Women, Infants and Children
(WIC) program.
According to Lafontant, the overwhelming excitement for Rec Rx ex-

pressed by health professionals was
coupled with only one point of contention. While most felt that all children were at risk of being overweight
and should receive prescriptions, the
County wished to limit the program
target to youth with high Body Mass
Indices (BMIs) due to budget constraints. Ultimately, it was decided
that any patients could receive prescriptions for free programs, but only
patients with high BMIs would be eligible for copay classes.
Of the 49 prescriptions handed out
to date, the County notes that the
overall filling of prescriptions has
been low. However, the County has
achieved enormous success with the
WIC program, in particular, with 90
percent of the prescriptions being redeemed. The park and recreation department attributes this in part to the
fact that prescriptions could be filled
in the very facility in which they were
handed out - reducing transportation barriers and eliminating the potential for loss of momentum following prescriptions.
Interestingly, the County observed
that the copay programs were much

Rec Rx Partners
t Neighborhood Healthcare
t Healthy Adventures Foundation -
Fit Kids Program
t Lakeside Community Collaborative
t County of San Diego Health and
Human Services Agency
t San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative
t California Health Network
t American Red Cross/California
Women, Infants and Children
(WIC)
t Kids in Parks
t Live Well San Diego

Program
Challenges
The County has noted two specific
challenges in the implementation of
Rec Rx:
t Turnover among dedicated program staff
t The lack of a person in each clinic
who serves as a physician champion for the program and helps
streamline coordination with the
County

more successful in appealing to
parents, due to their perceptions of
subsidized, fee-based classes having
a higher value for participants than
free activities.
In presurveys given to Rec Rx participants, patients indicated having
negative perceptions of parks, and
that their use of parks was low, prior
to joining the program. The County
is following up with respondents a
second time to determine how Rec
Rx has impacted their use and perception of local parks in the longer
term. The County has officially
mandated the official expansion
of the program in the East Region
through the Live Well San Diego
initiative and anticipates that survey
data will be useful in engaging new
funding sources and partners.
This case study is part of a new
NRPA publication, Prescribing Parks
for Better Health: Success Stories. To
read more success stories from
communities that have implemented
the " park prescriptions " model,
read the full publication at www.
nr pa.org/Grants-and-Par tners/
Re c r e a t i o n - a n d - H e a l t h / P a r k Prescriptions.
Amy Kapp is a freelance writer in northern
Virginia (kapp44017@gmail.com).

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Parks & Recreation

January 2014 - Parks & Recreation

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