1. Rec-Connect = PA + PSE Sarah Panken, MS Director of Network Programs
Michigan Fitness Foundation
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

2. PSE, including social marketing
Rec-Connect: A multi-level physical activity intervention
Direct Education
PSE, including social marketing
To connect SNAP-eligible people to free- or low-cost community-based physical activity opportunities. As some stage setting, Rec-Connect was conceived as a way to introduce physical activity promotion alongside nutrition education. As SNAP-Ed itself has evolved from a sole focus on direct education to a more comprehensive approach including PSE, Rec-Connect has also evolved to mirror that. In it’s current form, it includes physical activity promotion and PSE (with a link to social marketing). Before I provide more detail about Rec-connect as it currently is, I want to give a bit of background of the evolution over time.
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

3. Community Connections
WIC Clinics
WIC Clinics+
Rec-Connect
Present
The Rec-Connect was modeled after a process implemented and tested by the Network for a Healthy California. The Health Belief Model, Stages of Change and Social Ecological Model supported the theory base for the project. The aim was to pair physical activity programming and promotion in eligible locations where people were already receiving nutrition education.
Initially, Rec-Connect was know as Rec-WIC. The idea was to connect local recreation departments and WIC centers in Lansing, Detroit, and eventually Jackson, Michigan to raise awareness of physical activity offerings through the Recreation department (display boards, flyers, etc.), provide physical activity demonstrations, and encourage WIC clients to take action and participate in physical activity through the local recreation department. In Lansing, the recreation department offered scholarships to WIC clients who participated in the physical activity demonstrations, thus encouraging them to continue the behavior.
Based on learning and success from the initial phase, local recreation departments in Detroit and Lansing, Michigan continued to engage WIC clients while broadening their reach and engaging SNAP eligible recipients in other venues. To accomplish this, they partnered with organizations offering SNAP-Ed in schools, summer camps, or other eligible community locations. They continued to focus on connecting eligible populations with free- or low-cost physical activity opportunities offered through the recreation department. In Detroit, the recreation department would be intentional in selecting sites that were close to an existing recreation center and offer PA demos. Keeping in mind how to mitigate barriers (like transportation) as well as the personal touch connecting people to their rec centers. They also would do PA demonstrations during the down time with Cooking Matters.
With the inclusion of PSE in SNAP-Ed, that opened new doors to implement Rec-Connect. The focus shifted to creating a turnkey package for organizations in Michigan implementing SNAP-Ed locally to integrate PA programming into their SNAP-Ed programs (more about that in subsequent slides). Currently, there are 14 organizations that have integrated Rec-connect into their program. At the core is a set of standardized Physical Activity Tastings coupled with resources that help organizations assess community-based physical activity opportunities, catalyze and leverage local partnerships, and provide a structure to connect people participating in PA tastings with those community PA opportunities. The goal is to increase the capacity of those organizations already implementing SNAP-Ed and develop a sustainable model for including PA and PA PSE changes in SNAP-Ed.
PA Demonstrations
and
Display Boards
Community Connections
PA Tastings + PSE
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

4. Assess: Examine community needs and create an action plan
Step-by-step implementation guide that provides an overview of Rec-Connect and the 4 phases that I will describe now.
Organizations complete the physical activity (PA) opportunity identification tool. This helps them assess their community through a lens of accessible resources to guide PA Tasting selections and familiarize them with the resources in their community. To complete the PA opportunity identification tool, they will need to contact other local organizations that either run programs and/or manage physical activity-related resources (e.g., trails, parks, skate parks or rinks, community centers, schools open for PA, etc.), as well as think about the condition of these resources; in other words, would you tell people to go to this location (e.g., considering things like safety, security, etc.). They reach out to parks and recreation department, but also to other organizations or individuals that can speak to community assets, such as local trails groups, yoga studios or gyms, physical activity clubs (walking, running, biking, ultimate frisbee, etc.). The key is to have a comprehensive compilation of what the community has to offer (free or low cost only), including programs, events, and facilities. This step can also help build and leverage partnerships.
After the PA opportunity identification tool is complete, they fill out an action plan. Based on what they learned in the OI tool, they think through community assets and strengths and choose PA tastings that align with what’s available in the community. The action plan includes which PA tastings they plan to implement along with any community resources that will reinforce the activity and/or provide information about where or how to participate in the community.
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

5. 2. Implement: Conduct PA Tastings
PA Tastings. The term is a play on food tastings in nutrition education. In SNAP-Ed, there are many nutrition educators that are very comfortable talking about nutrition, but not as much with physical activity. The PA tasting kits are a way to help them be excited and feel comfortable talking about physical activity and embrace the idea of PA programming and promotion. In addition to the 14 organizations implementing the full Rec-connect program, all 33 MFF SNAP-Ed funded organizations, received a PA tasting kit that includes items like jump ropes, hula-hoops, strength bands, etc. that align with the standardized PA tastings. These kits can be used with adults and families, helping them learn about different types of PA and encouraging continued behavior at home.
Each of the (so-far) 8 standardized PA tastings have step-by-step instructions on how to implement them. Instructions include what an educator or instructor needs to do for preparation, tips of what to say and how to engage participants, warm up, practice, and cool-down directions for demonstration, and periodic check ins. Introduction always includes reference to a healthy lifestyle. There is language about ‘before you move, be sure to check with your doctor.’ Demonstrations can be led by educators or by partnering with a local instructor.
Sometimes (based on the OI and action plan), a PA tasting activity is selected that is not part of the PA Tasting Kit list and instruction guides. The organization then identifies and engages a local instructor to lead the demonstration.
As part of the PA Tasting, a dot survey poster is used to capture data for evaluation. For you, there are post-activity questions: did they like the activity and would they do it at home. For adults, there is a pre-activity question related to stages of change (currently active or intent to be active) as well as the same post-activity questions.
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

6. 3. Connect: Share community-based PA opportunities with participants
This is a take home piece that is shared with participants after a specific PA tasting. There are standard tips for how to do the activity at home and the organization includes community-based opportunities to participate in this activity (e.g., scholarships to classes or programs or locations where to participate in these activities such as parks or events). These take-homes incorporate one of the messages included in Michigan’s social marketing campaign.
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

7. 4. Next Steps: Assessment to guide next steps
Development in progress…
This phase of the Rec-Connect program is in will include a community assessment that connects to broader community needs and provides feedback on PSE changes to increase physical activity. This is in progress, in part because we are taking time to find an assessment that speaks to needs with SNAP-Ed as well as informs the larger picture. One opportunity for this piece of the Rec-Connect is the Promoting Active Communities (PAC) assessment which was developed in Michigan in 2000 and after a update in 2006 is now undergoing another update. This assessment steps communities through assessing their programs, policies and plan, and built environment that support physical activity. The updated PAC will have a parks and recreation module that may be used as the Rec-Connect community assessment.
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

8. What you are seeing here is an image from one of Michigan’s most recent billboard campaigns as part of the state’s social marketing campaign. When Michigan’s social marketing campaign was developed, Rec-Connect heightened the need to including PA messaging. The base message was nutrition and we added the PA.
This ‘in the air’ campaign is tied to on-the-ground resources, such as take home pieces, pull-up banners, and yard signs, that MFF SNAP-Ed funded organizations use to reinforce social marketing message.
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

9. Every stage of Rec-Connect has included evaluation with a focus on formative early on; process ongoing; outcome evaluation from the work done exclusively with WIC clinics showed that Rec-Connect was successful:
As a result of Rec-Connect, 77% of participants reported participating in community physical activities at least one time (target 5%). The most commonly reported location for participation was a community park. Thirteen percent (13%) of all Rec-Connect participants reported they were more physically active because of Rec-Connect information or activities (target 10%). In addition,16% of participants reported their children were more physically active.
Now evaluation is underway to assess outcomes for not only individual behaviors but needs and readiness and partnerships; in the immediate future as stage 4 is operationalized, measures of PSE changes that support physical activity at a site or organization, or at the community-level will be on-boarded. And longer-term changes at both the individual and environmental settings levels will be measured. Eventually, Rec-Connect could act as a catalyst for multi-sector partnerships and planning and broader PSE changes to support physical activity.
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

10. All Audiences Multiple Settings PSE DE
Community assessment
Partnerships
Catalyst for PSE changes
PA Tastings
Connect people to community-based PA opportunities
Can be used anywhere nutrition education is occurring
Can be used with youth, adults, and older adults
All Audiences
Multiple Settings
PSE DE
Rec-connect was designed to:
Have maximum flexibility.
Build capacity at the local level (partnerships, resources, and PSE/community-connections) to sustain the model over time.
Raise awareness of community assets that support physical activity.
Let people taste different types of physical activity and give them the tools to continue the activity at home.
Contribute to social norming of physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle - engage families as a whole to be active together.
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation

11.
© 2017 Michigan Fitness Foundation