July 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 53

becoming more disconnected. Parks are a
gathering place for people. Being a doctor,
and someone who's around health and
wellness, I see how we're getting increasingly less active and how important it is to
have a place like a park where kids can go
run around and learn to make physical activity a part of their lives.
P&R: A big concern right now for park
and recreation professionals is that
federal budget cuts may threaten a lot
of the programs that are beneficial to
our communities. What can we do?
Iseman: The fact that funding is being cut just shows how important it is
to find causes that are truly important
to you and to crusade for those causes.
It's hard to control how the government
waxes and wanes on what's important,
but we, as people in the community, can
always make a difference. It can start in
your neighborhood park - just getting
out there and making sure that if it's
important to you, you share that importance with other people. We have to realize that starting locally is the best way to
make things happen globally.
P&R: The CDC recently released a
study on the prevalence of arthritis
in rural America, and how access to
activity through park and recreation
agencies can help decrease the pain
associated with arthritis. In your
experience with rheumatoid arthritis
and your work with the Arthritis
Foundation, what does access to
quality recreation mean to you?
Iseman: I had to find a gym in Los Angeles that had a pool, and my girlfriend
recently showed me a public pool where,
for a few dollars a day, we can go and
use an Olympic-caliber pool. What the
CDC said is something that I've noticed,

" ...personally, in my life dealing with [rheumatoid arthritis]
- 'The more active I am the better I feel and the more

active I'm able to be.' "
personally, in my life dealing with RA -
the more active I am the better I feel and
the more active I'm able to be. So having
access to places like parks is the biggest
thing. If you can walk a block to your
neighborhood park and run around or
play a sport, the easier it is to do it. We
need to break down the barriers to make
sure these places are available and, more
importantly, that kids learn these habits
so they become part of their lives.
P&R: What are you most looking
forward to about being the keynote
speaker and spending time at the
2017 NRPA Annual Conference?
Iseman: I'm ecstatic to go to New Orleans and see people from around the
country who have this passion for parks

and recreation and hear their ideas and
the ways they try to make these parks
more valuable to people. I'm interested
to see how people are becoming more
creative with the spaces. Just like American Ninja Warrior is encouraging people
to be more active, being around people
who have that same agenda, I think we
can do a lot of good together. We can try
to create some synergy in the messages
and feel like we're all on the same page
and want the same thing: getting people
more active and healthier. We're all trying to encourage people to get active and
take care of themselves, and in the end
this builds a better country.
Cort Jones is the Associate Editor for Parks &
Recreation magazine (cjones@nrpa.org).

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July 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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