The goal of Wellscapes is to improve physical activity in children, ultimately changing the way the community addresses youth health and wellness issues. To accomplish this, local individuals come together and create a Community Hub. The Community Hub represents community members and various organizations working together to accomplish a common goal. The Community Hub will use data collected from different youth groups (e.g. school, after school programs, clubs, and youth sport) to collaborate with one another and design ways to provide more group opportunities for youth and potentially improve the overall health of children in their community. Community members and organizations are guided through a rapid-improvement cycle: Investigate --> Design --> Practice --> Reflect, to determine ways to improve their community's wellness landscape. Community Hub members will be led through the following process:
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INVESTIGATE Determine current group opportunity practices, examine strengths for building new opportunities, and determine decision makers who can help develop current and new community group opportunities for youth. |
DESIGN Build on the current local strengths and use these strengths to develop current and innovative new group opportunities for children and families. |
PRACTICE Create a roadmap for developing a community wellness landscape, determine strategic resources, roles and responsibilities, and practice immediate community change. |
REFLECT Reflect on the practice efforts and refine the community roadmap. |
How do you lead a Community Hub Network through the Community Improvement Process?
Wellscapes provides a number of tools and resources to assist you and the Community Hub through the process. By using Open-Ended Questions, Affirmations, Reflecting, and Summaries facilitators can help move the group forward in conversations and motivate Community Hub members to initiate change in their community. A Community Hub Facilitator Guide & Routine was designed to allow facilitators to easily move a Community Hub through the Community Improvement Process. Each step of the process provides a series of questions and prompts to assist the facilitator in helping the group make decisions and establish new physical activity opportunities for youth in their community.