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B. 1) Considerations in Developing an Activity
Programme
i)
Selecting an Activity
Matching the
right activity with the needs of the particular Service Users is of
critical importance and should be arrived at after discussions
between the support staff, the woodland activity staff and the
Service Users themselves. Woodlands offer such a choice of activities
that the development and delivery of the service should be able to
meet users’ needs precisely.
-
Decide
what the objectives of the activity are in terms of increasing
physical activity, self-esteem or developing social skills etc.
-
Have an
array of options on offer for the Service Users to try out.
-
Beneficiaries
must have an input into the planning of the activity.
-
A pilot
or taster activity is often a good idea before developing a
definitive programme.
-
Do not
be too ambitious; build confidence with small, easily attained
goals.
-
Try and
overcome cultural barriers in certain circumstances and do not
assume that the Service User has an immediate appreciation of being
outdoors or shares your personal environmental values.
-
Be aware
of the differences and inequalities among beneficiaries so that
activities encourage a wider and inclusive participation.
-
Producing
something tangible is important in building confidence but do not
let the end goal be so intimidating that satisfaction in the process
is lost.
-
Above
all make sure that the activity is fun and enjoyable.
-
The
Par – Q guidelines will help Service Users assess whether they should consult a Doctor
before initiating a physical activity programmes
ii)
Group Size
This depends
on the activity undertaken and the individual needs of the Service
User. Simple woodland management activities like brashing (pruning
trees) can be undertaken by a relatively large group, as this has a
low hazard potential and needs little supervision and induction. An
activity like pole lathing is more skilled and will require either
higher levels of supervision or smaller groups so that fewer people
are kept waiting.
iii)
Supervision Levels
The Health or
Support Worker will know what levels of supervision are necessary for
the personal care of their individual Service Users. It is important
to select an activity to match the levels of supervision available so
that as many beneficiaries as possible can be active at any one time.
iv)
Duration, Frequency and Continuity
The current
recommendations for physical activity in adults is at least 30
minutes moderate activity five times a week, to benefit health. It
will be difficult to provide this level of supervision for hard to
reach members of the community who may not be able or willing to
undertake this lifestyle change on their own. The objective of a
programme aimed at this sector of society is to provide a structure
for encouraging and rewarding participation. From evidence based
practice in Wales it would appear that 4 hours of supervised sessions
once a week for 6 months would provide an optimum level of benefit to
health from woodland activities. The long term goal of any health and
wellbeing programme should be to stimulate independent exercise of 30
minutes, 5 times a week however.
v) Evaluation and Evidence
Gathering
It is
important to set project outcomes both for the Service Users’
benefit and for project partners and funders. Decide on what
indicators will be used to assess the progress of each individual
participant. It is obviously important not to intimidate the
beneficiaries with these parameters at the beginning at the project.
Project evaluation should also be carried out so that evidence can be
presented to help influence policy regarding outdoor exercise. It is
preferable that this is done in a standardised format so that
information can be correlated with other initiatives. The Walking the
Way to Health Initiative has carried out both national and local
project evaluations using standardised questionnaires. Walking
the way to health: WHI evaluation reports 2006
Another
self-evaluation tool is the MYMOP, Measure Yourself Medical Outcome
Profile: www.hsrc.ac.uk/mymop/main.htm. This provides a simple one page questionnaire, with which the
Service User identifies one or two symptoms that they consider to be
most important to them, scoring their severity on a seven point
system. A further questionnaire is filled out after the activity has
been undertaken so that progress can be evaluated.
vi)
Planning for Sustainability If funding
has been secured and expectations have been created it is important
to plan the project to be sustained beyond the funding period. Two
Walking the Way to Health groups provide case
studies,
demonstrating how they achieved this when their coordinators’
funding period ended. |
