Document Detail


Development of the Rural Active Living Assessment Tools: measuring rural environments.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19818362     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: Develop rural-specific assessment tools to be used by researchers and practitioners to measure the activity-friendliness of rural communities. METHOD: The tools were created through a mixed-methods investigation into the determinants of physical activity among rural populations. This informed the development of a conceptual framework defining activity-friendly rural environments. Questions were generated to reflect applicable existing urban-based variables and rural conceptual model elements. Pilot testing was conducted in seven rural US communities during the fall of 2008. Inter-rater reliability was assessed. RESULTS: The Rural Active Living Assessment (RALA) Tools include three components: Town-Wide (18 town characteristic questions, and inventory of 15 recreational amenities), Program and Policy (20 questions), and Street Segment (28 questions). We found that the Town-wide and Program and Policy tools were feasible for community members to implement. The observed agreement and kappa statistic across all items for the Street Segment Assessment were substantial (91.9% and 0.78, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The RALA Tools were shown to be feasible and reliability was supported. They assess features believed to be supportive of active living in rural environments, offer users a resource to assess rural environments for activity-friendliness, and may also inform the design of interventions to help rural communities become more active and healthy.
Authors:
Anush Yousefian; Erin Hennessy; M Renee Umstattd; Christina D Economos; Jeffrey S Hallam; Raymond R Hyatt; David Hartley
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.     Date:  2009-10-07
Journal Detail:
Title:  Preventive medicine     Volume:  50 Suppl 1     ISSN:  1096-0260     ISO Abbreviation:  Prev Med     Publication Date:  2010 Jan 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-01-29     Completed Date:  2010-05-11     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0322116     Medline TA:  Prev Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  S86-92     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Maine Rural Health Research Center, Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, USA. ayousefian@usm.maine.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Environment Design*
Health Behavior*
Humans
Interinstitutional Relations
Motor Activity*
Program Evaluation / methods*
Public Facilities
Recreation
Research Support as Topic
Rural Health*
Transportation / statistics & numerical data
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
U1CRH03716//PHS HHS

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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