Active Ottumwa Podcast Trailer

Edith Parker: Hi, I’m Dr. Parker the current dean at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, and the former director of the University of Iowa Prevention Research Center for Rural Health. I would like to welcome you to the podcast, A Community on the Move: The Story of Active Ottumwa.

Through a series of 10 episodes, we will explore Active Ottumwa, a five-year initiative funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and located in the southeast Iowa town of Ottumwa. Active Ottumwa worked with the Ottumwa community to get adults to be more physically active. This program was truly a partnership between the Ottumwa community and the researchers at the University of Iowa. The latest research in physical activity was used to design, deliver, and evaluate the program and the Ottumwa community was with us every step of the way.

Each episode in the series will delve into specific topics related to the program’s success, including the challenges and triumphs of the problem, the lessons learned, and the impact of the program on the community. We will talk with the Ottumwa community members and leaders, Community Advisory Board members, Physical Activity Leaders, and the University of Iowa Prevention Research Center for Rural Health team that was involved in the project. None of this work would have been possible without the strong and trusting relationships that were created and enriched throughout the last seven years.

We are so excited to share our love and passion for this program with our listeners. We have enjoyed and grown throughout this program and we hope you leave this podcast with some tokens of knowledge, and momentum to start a physical activity program in your community. The hard work put in was well worth the investment and commitment. To everyone who was apart of the program, I give my sincerest thanks.