Simple But Effective
How to develop well-being programming in rural and underserved areas
By Tim Mertz
When it comes to rural, underserved areas, few are more remote than Bethel, Alaska. Located 400 miles west of Anchorage—40 miles off the coast of the Bering Sea—the region is only reachable by plane or boat.
Photo: © Can Stock Photo / CandyBoxImages
Fewer than 20 miles of roads are paved. Many residents do not have flush toilets. And houses and buildings are on stilts due to the tundra and permafrost. Yes, Bethel is about as remote as it gets.
It’s also underserved when it comes to well-being programs. Suicide rates are high in Bethel, as is substance abuse. Many residents do not know how to swim, and awareness of modern health initiatives generally lag behind, compared to those of the lower 48.
So, when community groups came together in 2014 to fund and develop an aquatic and fitness center in Bethel, residents were thrilled. Fast-forward to today and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Fitness Center (YKFC), managed by HealthFitness, now offers a wide variety of well-being programs that serve more than 1,500 residents.
How did this all happen? And, more importantly, what lessons were learned along the way? Here are four suggestions on how to effectively develop well-being programming in rural and underserved areas:
1. Understand the unique needs of the community.
Every rural community is unique—from its culture to its geographic features to its people. Take the time to understand the opportunities and challenges of the rural and underserved community you’re serving. Build upon its strengths. Take a customized approach to meet its needs. And work around the challenges.
For example, if a rural community includes an affluent, elderly population, make sure to build programming that meets specific needs (water aerobics comes to mind). Those demographics should also affect who is hired to staff a fitness and recreation center, and how to engage them. In the Bethel community, many residents collect berries, hunt, and fish as part of their subsistence lifestyle, but they never had health-and-wellness programming opportunities. So, the goal was to offer programming at their level and meet them where they were, in terms of education and awareness.
2. Do due diligence.
Meet with user groups, special-interest groups, and community members. Read town-council meeting minutes; yes, it will be time-consuming, but it will also provide the most organic and authentic information about the community. And, it will serve as the bedrock of a strategic approach for the fitness and recreation center that will eventually be promoted.
3. Offer programming options beyond “water and weights.”
Develop programming that meets the unique needs of the community—not just the traditional activities that work so well for many other communities. For example, the YKFC hired a local guitar teacher to provide lessons for beginners. This definitely isn’t a “traditional” program offering, but it is something the community expressed an interest in, and it offers emotional health through music. The YKFC also offers classes in women’s self-defense—another need the community mentioned in initial research. Smart Fit Girls teaches adolescent girls how to love their bodies by embracing their own strength. So far, it’s been a big hit. In the end, make sure that programming goes beyond the basics to meet the unique needs and culture of the community.
4. Focus on meeting basic community needs.
In some instances, the fitness and recreation centers in rural areas are helping residents not only live healthier lives, but also meet their basic needs. For example, Bethel residents have come to embrace amenities such as running water for showers, toilets, free Wi-Fi, and access to concessions. All in all, many basic needs are met at that fitness center, and it’s become a second home to many residents.
The YKFC has also opened up new opportunities for Bethel youth, hosting the Bethel Regional High School Swim Team—the community’s first. Many of the student swimmers joined the team, only being able to move from one end of the pool to the other. The team now competes regularly, and during the past few years its members have embraced the opportunity to go beyond what they believed was possible.
Developing effective well-being programming for rural and underserved areas doesn’t have to be difficult, but it needs to begin with a prudent approach rooted in research. Those who take the time to truly listen will find success.
Tim Mertz is Executive Director of Solutions & Partnerships at HealthFitness.