The Podcast: “A Community on the Move: The Story of Active Ottumwa”

Want to know more about the Active Ottumwa story? Check out the ten-part podcast series “A Community on the Move: The Story of Active Ottumwa” produced by the Midwest Public Health Training Center. Episodes are released weekly, so tune in every Thursday morning for a new heartwarming episode.

Trailer

Episode 1: An Introduction into the Active Ottumwa Project: Laying the Groundwork

Listen to the research team share how the program came to be and the timeline of events that started the program off on the “right” step, including getting support from the many local organizations that participated in Active Ottumwa.

Guests: Rima Afifi, Barbara Baquero, Becky Bucklin, Sandy Berto

Episode 2: Finding the Cheerleaders: The Vital Role of the Active Ottumwa Community Advisory Board

The Active Ottumwa Community Advisory Board (CAB) was vital to the success of Active Ottumwa. Hear from CAB members who share the tasks and roles of the advisory board along with the challenges and successes of involving this community-based program.

Guests: Himar Hernandez, Garrett Ross, Kim Hellige, Becky Bucklin, Sandy Berto

Episode 3: Physical Activity Leaders: The Foundation of Active Ottumwa

Hear directly from a few of the Active Ottumwa PALs about why they became a PAL, what they liked about the program, and how the program lived up to what they thought the program was all about.

Guests: Twila Foster, Becky Bucklin, Sandy Berto

Episode 4: Growing and Building Physical Activity Leader Programming

Personal and heartfelt stories are shared here about how participating in Active Ottumwa not only encouraged the PALs to be more active, but also fostered lifelong community and personal friendships that have enriched their lives by volunteering time with Active Ottumwa.

Guests: Betty Panlaqui, Remi Panlaqui, Blaire Siems, Mary Hart, Joe Slaymaker, Sandy Berto, and Becky Bucklin.

Episode 5: Getting the Word Out about Active Ottumwa

Many hands make light work.. Listen to learn about the various resources and community organizations that assisted with sharing information about Active Ottumwa. It could not have been done without community involvement!

Guests: Connie Hammersly-Wilson, Barbara Baquero, Sandy Berto, and Becky Bucklin.

Episode 6: The Spaces and Places for Activity

Ottumwa has many places to be active at, including a wonderful park and trail system, but there are also many resources at local businesses that you may not expect that were available to hold indoor activities during an Iowa winter. Learn how our program got creative to find and use these spaces to promote physical activity.

Guests: Garrett Ross, Sandy Berto, and Becky Bucklin.

Episode 7: Making Active Ottumwa, Ottumwa’s Community Program

“The more I reached out to the community, the more the community reached out to me.” Learn how the adaptability of Active Ottumwa and the engagement from the community from the beginning helped the program fit into Ottumwa.

Guests: Barbara Baquero, Becky Graeve, Lou LaRose, Becky Bucklin, Sandy Berto.

Episode 8: The Participants of Active Ottumwa: The Heartbeat of Active Ottumwa’s Success

Listen to what the participants of Active Ottumwa programming have to say about class offerings from Tai Chi, walking groups, dance fitness, and more! Dedicated program attendees talk about how they heard about the program what activities they attended, and what kept them coming back!

Guests: Jean Dell, Kathy Engel, Peggy Wixom, Sylvia Hunolt, Sandy Berto.

Episode 9: Evaluating the Ingredients of the Active Ottumwa Recipe

Learn more about what evaluation is. Why is it necessary? How is it done? And how do researchers and community members make sense of all the data and information collected in a community engaged research study? Here are the answers to how the the Active Ottumwa team saw if the program was successful and used information collect to improve the project with input from the community.

Guests: Natoshia Askelson, Heidi Haines, Becky Graeve, Sandy Berto, Becky Bucklin.

Episode 10: Moving Forward with Active Ottumwa under Hy-Vee’s Leadership

This is the final episode of this series. To keep the project going after the research grant came to an end, Hy-Vees of Ottumwa and their dietician Becky Graeve took over the day to day Active Ottumwa operations. Listen to how this transition came about and how the program continues to maintain and grow under this new leadership.

Guests: Becky Graeve, Sandy Berto, Becky Bucklin.

If you found this podcast interesting, check out the Rural Health Podcast found on the Share Public Health website.