July 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 22

HEALTH & WELLNESS
Supporting Healthy Aging Through
Parks and Recreation
By Colleen Pittard and Tiff Cunin
P
ark and recreation agencies provide older adults with a wealth of
resources that improve mental, emotional and physical health,
social connectedness, and meaningful community engagement
- ultimately allowing individuals to age in place. During Older
Americans Month and Arthritis Awareness Month, NRPA shared updates
and news about how local parks and recreation continue to support healthy
aging in communities across the country.
First, with support from the Centers
for Disease and Prevention
(CDC)*, NRPA recently awarded
grants to 48 park and recreation
agencies
in 24 states
across
the
country, with the primary goal of
increasing the equitable dissemination
and delivery of arthritisappropriate,
evidence-based
interventions
(AAEBIs) in park and recreation
agencies. NRPA selected
grantees based on a holistic review
of their applications, which illustrated
community needs, in addition to
objective measures, such as CDC's
Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)
(tinyurl.com/3zxmuu8p).
grantees
During the application process,
selected
the most
appropriate AAEBI program for
their intended audience. Grantees
were each awarded two instructor
training grants for their selected
AAEBI, in addition to program
materials, such as participant books
and
program-specific
equipment.
Additionally, communities with
a high SVI score were eligible to
apply for a small monetary award
to support the sustainability of their
AAEBI beyond the project period.
Additionally, all 48 grantees
gained membership into NRPA's
Supporting Healthy Aging Through
22 Parks & Recreation | JULY 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
Parks and Recreation Community of
Practice (CoP). Over an 18-month
period, these CoP members will
engage with each other, industry
experts and health equity subject
matter experts to learn how to offer
arthritis programs in a way that
centers equity, to ensure all people
have access to the health benefits of
parks and recreation. Participants
will work together to learn how
to
apply NRPA's Elevating Health
Equity Through Parks and Recreation:
A Framework for Action (nrpa.org/
ElevatingHealthEquity),
and
will
strategize what it means to embark
on systems change that centers equity
in their community. Together, these
efforts will result in the improved
ability for each agency to sustain the
delivery of AAEBIs to all community
members, with a particular focus on
engaging and supporting the healthy
aging of historically disenfranchised
populations - Black, Indigenous,
Latino, Asian American, low-income
and rural communities.
NRPA also developed an interactive
map, called PLACES: NRPA
Healthy Aging Grantees (tinyurl.
com/mv92ccj8), to help park and recreation
professionals visualize where
chronic diseases, such as arthritis, are
most prevalent and to see where arthritis
interventions have been implemented.
To develop this map, NRPA
used the CDC's PLACES data (tiny
url.com/ys35jpnw), which provides
community health data. The map
overlays health data with the geographical
locations
of
previous
and
current NRPA Healthy Aging
grantees, which allows park and
recreation professionals to use this
map as a tool to observe how their
colleagues are working to address
arthritis across the country.
As the aging population becomes
more diverse, it is important that
park and recreation agencies learn
more about centering equity in the
delivery of services, programs, facilities
and operations. AAEBIs
not only serve as a means to manage
and prevent arthritis, but also
are a means to social activity and
social connectivity, which are both
central to healthy aging.
*This project is supported by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) as part of
a financial assistance award totaling
$460,551 with 100 percent funded by
CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the
author(s) and do not necessarily represent
the official views of, nor an endorsement,
by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
This article originally appeared on
NRPA's Open Space blog. To view the
full article and references, visit tinyurl.
com/muwdj5s3.
Colleen Pittard is NRPA's Partnership
Manager (cpittard@nrpa.org). Tiff
Cunin is an NRPA Senior Program
Manager (tcunin@nrpa.org).
http://www.tinyurl.com/ys35jpnw http://www.tinyurl.com/ys35jpnw http://www.nrpa.org/elevatinghealthequity http://www.nrpa.org/elevatinghealthequity http://www.tinyurl.com/3zxmuu8p http://www.tinyurl.com/muwdj5s3 http://www.tinyurl.com/mv92ccj8 http://www.tinyurl.com/muwdj5s3 http://www.tinyurl.com/mv92ccj8
July 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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