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The Reach and Adoption of "Walk Kansas": Translating Research to Practice. Abstract for Society of Behavioral Medicine Award of Excellence Pro-Change Research to Practice Dissemination Award.

Paul Estabrooks (1), PhD, Lisa Klesges (2), PhD, Michael Bradshaw (1), PhD, & David Dzewaltowski (1), PhD

(1) Kansas State University; (2) University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center

Social-support strategies in community-based interventions targeting physical activity (PA) are highly recommended for public health improvement. However, little research exists related to the potential reach of these strategies into ‘real-world’ practice. This presentation describes translation through the county-level adoption and subsequent reach of Walk Kansas (social-support intervention) as implemented through the Cooperative Extension statewide diffusion system.

The study had 3 phases. First, state counties were designated as rural/urban and characteristics of county delivery agents were documented before the inaugural year of Walk Kansas. Second, the number of counties that adopted and initiated the program was documented. Finally, the number, characteristics, and representativeness of the counties, and subsequently individuals, choosing to participate were assessed. Forty-eight counties participated (48%). Rural counties and those with physically activity delivery agents were more likely to adopt the program (p<.01). Over 6000 Kansans participated with 78% completing assessments of demographic and PA characteristics. Participants were representative of the participating counties’ populations based on race/ethnicity, gender, and age. Baseline PA of registrants was higher than non-participants with 56% of registrants versus 22% of non-registrants at CDC- recommended levels of PA. It appears that social support interventions such as Walk Kansas can be successfully translated into practice, particularly in rural areas, and have the ability to reach representative populations in terms of demographic characteristics. Future research is needed to determine ways to increase the proportion of insufficiently active or inactive individuals who volunteer for the intervention and mechanisms that could increase adoption in urban areas.