I decided to focus on what most people believed was their barrier to exercise, which would relate to most people in Pontiac. I picked a cartoon of a city to represent Pontiac with no gym signs to represent the lack of places to exercise in the city. This would represent how people in Pontiac felt because most people felt they “don’t have a place to exercise near where they lived”. An interesting part of the survey findings was that almost three-quarters of the people felt the same way. These findings could be used to show businesses that there is a need for more places to exercise in Pontiac. For example, more gyms, parks, trails, etc. for people to get out on and feel safe doing so. One memorable part of CHEER lab was getting to learn the basic skills of research so that I will be able to perform well in a research lab. I am excited to start participating in research projects next semester.

The methods that were used to create the infographic were based on the goal to make the infographic easily understandable for the target audience being the Pontiac community. I chose the concept of physical activity and how many Pontiac individuals are not achieving the recommended amount because this is a serious issue that can promote many health benefits to the target population. I used animated individuals participating in athletic activities and a gym background to connect back to the purpose of the infographic. Each individual has a text bubble over their head to assign them a portion of the population that represents their section of physical activity levels. This method provided a visually appealing image that allows for the information to be easily understandable for the target audience.

The most interesting aspect about the survey findings was not directly stated but the infographic shows that 79% of the Pontiac community does not meet the recommended physical activity guidelines. These findings showcase that the Pontiac community is not informed of the physical activity recommendations or they simply do not have the means necessary to participate in physical activity.

These findings can be used as the community clearly needs help in this health dimension area. Things such as an increase in gyms or decrease in membership prices could help to expand the population to physical activity. Other things such as constructing better sidewalks or increasing the means of active transportation on a day to day basis could increase the physical activity time the community participates in.

One memorable part of my CHEER lab experience was the wonderful group conversations about the material that was discussed. This CHEER lab cohort was such an amazing group of people that highlighted each member's strengths to create an overall amazing group of women. Each journal club produced some of the best intellectual conversations where I learned and considered many new perspectives that I never thought I would. I recall discussing the qualitative peer reviewed literature regarding weight history and how the group made that hour meeting feel like only 5-minutes as we continued to build off one another and further each other’s ideas.  I will remember each of our group members in such a memorable way and for that, I will always be grateful that I took the step as a freshman to be a part of the CHEER lab.

I chose to do where pontiac residents exercise or stay active because I was curious. A lot of people around me go to the gym but in Pontiac, many of them workout in their homes. I decided to include the biggest categories from the survey in my infographic. 30% workout at home, 6% in the gym and 4% walk neighborhoods. Steps that health professionals can take is to just have more resources available, they stress staying active but I feel that they don’t give you resources for it. They could have some exercises to do at home and at the gym.

A memorable moment from CHEER lab was when we did the interviews. I learned a new skill but I also had fun while doing it. We were doing the interviews as practice so they weren’t serious. Every meeting covered important topics but it wasn’t overwhelming. We were usually having fun while doing it. I would say the group dynamic was my favorite part.

The methods that I decided to use to create my infographic were fairly simple. I chose to do a topic under the Physical Fitness category, which was “COVID-19 as a barrier to exercise. I wanted to include what the overall sample thought of how COVID-19 affected the way they exercised and if they go to the gym or not. I feel like the information that I put within the infographic said everything that needed to be said. I wanted to emphasize gym lifestyles by showing people working out and also some people wearing masks, because that is the reality of how gyms look nowadays. In the survey findings, there wasn’t anything that stuck out to me or was distinctly significant to me to include in my infographic. I made sure to include the percentage of people who were associated with each category because that was important.

If we ignore the “neutral” category of the findings we can see that 48% of the sample was on the side that agreed COVID-19 impacted their ability to be physically active. These findings could be used to improve safety at gyms, where many people who are physically active go to work out. When COVID-19 started to spread, people stopped going to the gym for a while, and at home workouts just did not feel the same as at the gym. I think these findings could be used by the general public more than anyone else, because they can make their gyms safer for everyone by properly cleaning their machines and staying home when sick. Those are the main reasons why people stopped going to the gym, and some of those people never came back.

I decided what information to include in my infographic by using the statistics from my assigned section from the survey results. I then condensed the information that was given. I chose the grocery store image as my background since the topic of the data was how individuals purchased fruits and vegetables at a grocery store. I presented the statistical information by putting it into blue squares and “placing” them on the shelf. I also decreased the size of each square based on the decreasing statistics. Additionally, while the size of the squares decreases, it draws the eye to the focal point of the background, which is the checkout stand.

It was very interesting to see how many individuals reported cost as a barrier in purchasing fruits and vegetables in a grocery store. It was also interesting to see the percentage of individuals using SNAP/EBT to purchase groceries. SNAP/EBT is an incredibly helpful and necessary resource for those who are struggling financially.

The findings presented in this study could be used for decreasing the stigma surrounding SNAP/EBT usage. Over ⅓ of individuals surveyed used these resources in order to get necessary groceries. Another action step that could be taken involves opening more food banks in this area. Around 40% of individuals reported cost as a barrier to getting groceries. Opening additional food banks could help these individuals get access to the food they need.

I enjoyed our Journal Club discussions. I really developed and broadened my knowledge of research in the group. It’s been extremely helpful to apply the knowledge I’ve gained here to my other classes.

I took a few minutes to browse the others’ infographics to get some ideas on how this data was approached. I also noticed one of the examples in the PowerPoint used a similar statistic to mine. On the example, it depicted a family unable to reach a fruit stand on the other side of the cliff. I liked the idea of visually portraying not being able to reach something, so I simplified that idea as much as possible. Hence, I used a hand unable to reach the basket of fruits and vegetables. I was surprised how large the number is. I like that there is current, easily accessible information to the community about topics such as these.

I’m not entirely sure how this specific finding could be used to invoke action. Possibly try for better support systems or programs for these individuals. Ability to maintain a healthy diet is vital for people, maybe this gives better insight for the aim of programs that help underprivileged individuals.

I don’t have quite enough experience with the program or graphic design to fulfil everything I envisioned, but I think a fruit + vegetable basket in a similar design to the hand could fit better. The style uses a single line to create the image in the hand, which I think looks interesting to someone scrolling. The basket could be colored outside the lines to emphasize the idea that it’s unattainable. Also, the 18% could be changed to 1/5 to further simplify the graphic.

My topic was “growing fruits and vegetables”, which I chose based on my personal interests. In my infographic, I included both statistics, which covered the percentage of the population in Pontiac who currently are able to grow their own vegetables, as well as the percentage of the population that is interested in access to home or community gardens. These findings can be used by the local government to help create community gardens for people to access space for growing their own fruits and vegetables. This also gives the general public more insight into what resources are desired, which could lead to more action in advocating for communal needs. In conjunction with the other information from the community survey, the general interest in access to produce shows that making these resources available can better the health of the community by encouraging healthy eating habits and community involvement.

My favorite part of CHEER Lab has been the journal club meetings. I have liked reading about the research that is done by faculty members on our campus. It has been interesting to discover what opportunities there may be to work on research products through Oakland University and the School of Health Sciences.

I used pie charts and bar graphs to design my infographics. I used information on how many, people did not purchase food because of a low budget. I found that 18 percent of people did not purchase vegetables and fruits because it was expensive. When I analyzed data on how many people paid for food using Snap and Ebt I found that 31 to 45 and 45 to 65 years old used Ebt and Snap to purchase food. Maybe people aged 31 to 45 used Snap to pay for food because they had their family and their income cannot support their family fully so, they need assistance to buy food.  People aged 45 to 65 pay for food using Snap because they might have poor health conditions so they could not work long hours. Moreover, they paid hospital bills so, they cannot pay for food from their salary. The most interesting thing in this survey was 68.5 percent of people wanted to grow fruit and vegetables in their backyard, which is good because this can save a lot of money. 

Research findings can be used by government agencies to help people who cannot afford food. Only 21 percent of people said that covid impacted their ability to eat healthily this means that people were already deprived of healthy food before covid. Government should give fruits and vegetables to the lower-income group at a minimal cost.  Government can provide land to people who are interested in growing food so, in this way people will get food and vegetables for free.

My most memorable part of cheer lab is understanding how to read a research paper. I found coding techniques useful in analyzing research papers. Every Monday attending meetings with the cheer lab leader and students has given me confidence. I came to know that there is no right and wrong in analyzing research papers everyone has a different perspective on a different topic.  I hope in the future when I will work in a research lab these cheer lab experiences will help me to read a research paper in a better way.

For my infographic I tried to make the information being presented super clear so that anyone could see it and understand the message it is trying to convey. I made clear columns that contained different information and big labels to convey the statistics. I chose this portion of the survey report because I found the distribution of the consumption of servings of vegetables in particular very interesting. From some of my other classes I was able to see that I fall into the “None” category and seeing that that category did not include the majority was slightly shocking to me. These findings could be used to target those that reported low consumption in efforts to better their health. One memorable part of my CHEER Lab experience was the coding transcripts seminar by Dr. Lynch. I had never heard of this form of data collection method and had many questions as to how this was used and the training behind it.

Being a college student can be very stressful but when you add the burden of having to pay for your own schooling as well it can be very difficult to do well in school. For my infographic I focused on the percentage of students that pay for their own school, receive scholarship, or receive some sort of financial aid. I found it interesting that the students who paid for their own school, were the students who also had a job that worked around 20 hours a week, felt their classes were difficult and felt stressed often/frequently or always. It would be interesting to do research where we compared college students in the United States compared to a country like Denmark or Egypt were college is free. Comparing percentage of students that go on to university and graduate and how well they do in school. In the United States I feel that a lot of parents stop supporting their children at 18, making it extremely difficult for the child to go onto university and pay thousands of dollars a semester and must also support themselves as well. These financial burdens can make it very difficult for them to excel in school, leading to more dropouts and lower testing averages and GPAs. 

Cheer lab was a great experience for me, it allowed to me to work on a project that I felt very passionate about. I personally really enjoyed our journal club meetings; I liked the papers we were reading, and it felt like I was actually doing something that could relate to my future.