Mall Walking – A NSW Safe Communities Project

Within the community of Kiama, there are socially isolated older people who do not exercise as much as we would wish.

Safe Communities Model

Safe Communities is a program that was initiated by the World Health Organisation. The Safe Communities model creates an infrastructure in local communities for addressing injury prevention initiatives through the building of local partnerships. Communities build relationships to target injury-related issues that are of significance in their local area and then organise solutions to address these issues.

Kiama Safe Community

The Kiama Local Government area is situated 2 hours south of Sydney. Kiama covers an area of 256 sq km and is home to 17,970 residents. With its beautiful beaches, quaint rural character and relaxed atmosphere, Kiama is a popular holiday destination for both international tourists and Sydneysiders.

Outline of problem

Within the community of Kiama, there are socially isolated older people who do not exercise as much as we would wish. This has implications for potential fall injury prevention activities, and also for improving and or maintaining their mobility, which assists with independent living. However, the beautiful environment in Kiama does not lend itself to walking, as there are numerous hills, imperfect pathways, and inevitably climatic variables!

Project description

Working with local Community Health services, and some fantastic community volunteers, we developed a simple mall walking scheme, which we trialed over a four week period. The local large shopping mall was keen to encourage this, and the local coffee shop gave in-kind donations towards refreshments! We specifically targeted those older people in the community who were living on their own, without access to transport. Of those who took part in the walks, 25 per cent had not been to the mall in over two years!

The walk was entirely flat, undercover, and routes could be varied, to get to the coffee shop furthest from the drop off point! This represented a long walk for this frail group, some of whom used aids for walking. The other health gains were in social inclusion, and we can report that the group never ran out of conversation!

Project outcomes

The outcomes were that this was a very well received community project which showed from the trial that it was effective in increasing the activity levels of the frail older and socially isolated people who took part. As a result of the trial, the scheme has been extended, with some further variance in the walking venues visited.

For further information

Contact	:	Patricia Knight
Phone	:	+61 2 4232 0557
Email	:	patriciak@kiama.nsw.gov.au

WWW

:

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/health-promotion/injury-prevention/safe-communities/nsw-communities.html