June 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 42

NRPA Update

More Health and Wellness Sessions
Offered at Conference This Year
By Tom Crosley

ocal park and recreation agencies provide crucial health and wellness opportunities for all communities across the country. NRPA works with these
agencies to provide the tools, resources and technical assistance to improve
access to healthy foods and to increase opportunities for people to be physically active in their communities. During the 2017 NRPA Annual Conference, attendees will have the opportunity to choose from more than 50 education sessions
supporting our Health & Wellness Pillar. Here is just a sample of the range of topics
related to this Pillar:

Community Assets to Improve Rural
Health Through Parks and Recreation
Rural communities experience many
challenges, but across America, these
communities possess strengths and assets that can be leveraged to support
well-being and equity. Rural or smalltown park and recreation agencies have
a large impact on the health and well-being of their communities. They often fill
many roles but can be limited in capacity. National experts from the NORC
Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis and local partners at the Louisiana
Public Health Institute will share their
findings from the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation funded regional rural health
forums that were held across the country this year. The panel will also discuss
specific strategies to help agencies understand how to increase capacity and
health impact through their current resources and programs by incorporating
health into all aspects of their work and
community partnerships.
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Parks & Recreation

Designing & Implementing
Evidence-Based, Family-Based
Programming for Health
A unique partnership between Vanderbilt University Medical Center and
four diverse park and recreation centers
across the country has resulted in an evidence- and family-based program that
has been proven to reduce childhood
obesity. Come hear from park and rec
staff and leaders who have participated
in adapting this program to their community, and have witnessed the healthy
behavior change that resulted in both
parents and children. Get a glimpse of
the future of supporting health in communities through parks and recreation.
The presenters will discuss strategies to
advance health in your community by
addressing program design, implementation, assessment, sustainability and
strategies to work with partners. This
innovative approach simultaneously
creates programming for parents and
preschool children.

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Innovative Community Gardening
and Its Role in Social Justice
and Community Resilience
Urban agriculture is growing in popularity across the country, and attendees
of this session will have the opportunity
to learn best practices for planning and
managing community truly equitable
and sustainable garden programs. Community gardens not only provide communities with fresh food, but can also
be places for neighbors to come together and learn about native ecology, sustainable gardening practices and much
more. Community gardeners on public
lands across the country are thinking
outside the traditional community garden box to engage and provide valuable
resources for all community members.
This session, which straddles all three
NRPA Pillars - Social Equity, Health
& Wellness and Conservation - will
highlight grassroots initiatives building
community resilience through inclusive
and innovative activities.
For a complete list of health and wellness and all other education sessions and
to register for the conference, visit www.
nrpa.org/conference2017. We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans, September 26-28.
Tom Crosley is NRPA's Senior Manager of
Education (tcrosley@nrpa.org).

June 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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