Steps for Life

This past Spring CFNC experimented with a 6-week pilot pedometer walking program for parents called, Steps For Life, or Pasos Para Vivir. Eugenie Ballering, the Family Literacy Instructor, and I decided to offer the program first to those parents who were enrolled in our English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes. I received a mini-grant from a professional organization I belong to, the Northern Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners, to purchase anything needed to implement the program. Fortunately, Pfizer, Inc. donated pedometers, and the mini-grant funds were then able to be used for wonderful incentives. At the suggestion of a volunteer who was originally from a Latin American country, Eugenie and I chose incentives that would be culturally acceptable, and also would encourage the parents to be active with their families, such as kits containing outdoor games such as badminton, tether-ball and volleyball, DVD’s teaching dance as exercise, jump ropes, chalk for sidewalk games such as hopscotch, and more…

With the help of a bilingual English-Spanish volunteer interpreter, I was able to cover many more sophisticated concepts during class time than I could have if I had to do it all only in English. Many of our ESL students are at the beginner’s level in English. We covered such concepts as “SMART” (specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-bound) goals and goal setting, activity level (sedentary vs. various levels of activity), motivation, incentives (personal/internal vs. tangible/external), self-confidence, determination, and readiness to change. We spent a lot of time understanding the connections between personal behaviors, such as being more active, and health status, such as blood pressure level, weight, chronic illness, etc.

During our pedometer program, 24 parents used a pedometer as a wellness tool; 16 parents consistently kept track of their steps per day, formulated personal and/or family fitness and wellness goals, and began making progress toward those goals over the course of the 6 weeks. All received incentives and rewards throughout the program to help keep them motivated and active.

Some amazing outcomes resulted from this pilot program. One parent, who’d been experiencing daily headaches, was found to have very high blood pressure, and I referred her to a local clinic for further evaluation and treatment. She was immediately given medication to treat high blood pressure, and I counseled her about healthy lifestyle choices that would further help her to decrease her blood pressure, and might reduce her dependence on medication over time. Her involvement in Steps for Life directly resulted in this positive change for her life. Other parents began to lose weight, changed their eating habits to match their more healthy activity level, increased the amount of time they stretch and/or the number of steps they walk each day and drank more water. All participants set new fitness and wellness goals for themselves and/or their children. It was very exciting to see these healthy changes and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of this with them. Our parents are very inspiring!

by Donna Bain, Manager of Health Services