Creating a Moment for Active Living via a Media Campaign

Since 2003, residents of Omaha, Neb. have been encouraged to increase their physical activity levels. This is as a result of a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Active Living by Design (ALbD) initiative that funded Activate Omaha (AO), a community-wide health initiative.

The core of the initiative was a media campaign—billboards, TV and radio ads, grassroots efforts, and workplace initiatives—to raise awareness of the importance of physical activity in an area where 60 percent of adults are overweight or obese. The 3-year campaign used findings from surveys completed in 2005–2008 to focus subsequent years’ campaigns and leverage additional funding from other foundations and corporations.

Activate Omaha assessed whether residents thought Omaha was a place to lead an active lifestyle; what opportunities and plans they had to be more active; and their awareness of the campaign.

Key Findings:

  • At the onset, 86 percent of Omahans said they wanted to be part of an active community.
  • After year 2 of the campaign, 40 percent of respondents felt there were more opportunities be active than two years previously.
  • After year 3, respondents thought Omaha was a “good” or “very good” place for active living; a 14 percent increase from baseline.
  • From 2005 to 2007, physical activity increased 20 percent.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine Presents the Evaluation of RWJF's Active Living by Design Program

  1. 1 Lessons from a Mixed-Methods Approach to Evaluating Active Living by Design
  2. 2 Capturing Community Change
  3. 3 Identifying the Role of Community Partnerships in Creating Change to Support Active Living
  4. 4 Assessment for Active Living
  5. 5 Evaluation of Physical Projects and Policies from the Active Living by Design Partnerships
  6. 6 Programs and Promotions: Approaches by 25 Active Living by Design Partnerships
  7. 7 Active Living by Design: Sustainability Strategies
  8. 8 Concept Mapping: Priority Community Strategies to Create Changes to Support Active Living
  9. 9 Evaluation of Active Living by Design
  10. 10 Evaluation Results from an Active Living Intervention in Somerville, Massachusetts
  11. 11 Bike, Walk, and Wheel
  12. 12 A Walking School Bus Program
  13. 13 Creating a Moment for Active Living via a Media Campaign
  14. 14 Isanti County Active Living
  15. 15 Using a Bicycle-Pedestrian Count to Assess Active Living in Downtown Wilkes-Barre
  16. 16 Active Living by Design's Contributions to the Movement
  17. 17 Healthy People and the Design Sciences
  18. 18 Active Living by Design and It's Evaluation
  19. 19 A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of School-Based Active Living Programs

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