Healthy Lifestyles: Health Walks and Kids' Congress

Through a Healthy Lifestyles Grant from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the Kansas City Quality Improvement Consortium has developed over 30 health walks. The health walks are accessible, educational and provide an opportunity to increase physical activity. Each health walk provides information on area including facts about the community or history of the location. Health walks brochures and information is available for the Greater Kansas City area (Clay, Platte, and Jackson Counties in Missouri and Wyandotte and Johnson in Kansas).

The Healthy Lifestyles Grant also included another program: Kids' Congress on Health. Students from several middle and high schools in the Greater Kansas City area participated in leadership training provided by the Kansas University Workgroup for Community Health and Development. Students identified health concerns at their school by surveying staff and students.

The survey results were used by Kids’ Congress participants to develop a solution, including policy changes and education, among others.

School projects included education on stress, development of a walking club and videos on health prevention, such as appropriate way to sneeze to prevent the spread of germs. Participants made a difference in their school environment related to health care issues specific to their schools.

E-mail us at info@kcqic.org for additional information about this initiative.