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The Walk with Ease self-directed/enhanced model allows a great deal of flexibility for co-creation of the perfect program with your participants. For this program to be successful, participants must feel:
Confident in their ability to participate.
Understood and heard regarding their perceptions and ideas.
Safe with you and their fellow participants.
Respected and supported in their cultural and social norms and beliefs.
Welcoming and affirming spaces
Welcoming and affirming spaces
A welcoming and affirming environment feels safe. It is a space where people can find themselves represented and reflected, culturally and socially, and where they understand that all people are treated with respect and dignity.
To ensure a welcoming and affirming space, we advise that the facilitator gets to know participants individually before or early in the class, asks about their context, their experience, and their concerns and prepares them for what they can expect.
If applicable, the instructor also collaborates with the partner agency to arrange for welcoming, affirming space and learn more about the backgrounds, lifestyles and priorities of the participants.
Click on the resources below for individual pre-course readiness checklists/meetings and for a "session zero" agenda for a group pre-course meeting.
Click here for additional tools to ensure your WWE class space is welcoming and affirming
Click here for additional tools to ensure your WWE class space is welcoming and affirming
Optimal Learning Environment
Optimal Learning Environment
An optimal learning environment is one which enables learners to draw from their own contexts and experiences to grasp new material. It ensures all cultural identities (e.g. race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, language, religion, socioeconomic background) are affirmed, valued and supported as vehicles for teaching and learning. It allows learners to share, practice and approach the edge of their comfort level to grow and develop in their learning. Learners are also teachers within an optimal learning environment through sharing from experience and supporting their fellow learners.
Optimal learning environment
Optimal learning environment
The following elements of a learning environment are key to ensuring your participants get the maximum benefit from your Walk with Ease class:
Click here for tools to ensure your WWE class is providing an optimal learning environment
Click here for tools to ensure your WWE class is providing an optimal learning environment
Click the links below for excellent resources for creating optimal learning environments for your WWE program!
Your Professional Readiness:
Your Professional Readiness:
U of MN Extension Staff: Please Complete these Modules
U of MN Extension Staff: Please Complete these Modules
Every time you lead a Walk with Ease class, you are also a learner! Take advantage of training opportunities to increase your skills and improve your understanding to optimally deliver the Walk with Ease program. For starters, complete the 3-module professional development series on physical activity below to learn about guidelines for physical activity, the importance of physical activity for mental wellbeing, and ways to support and motivate your participants. The videos, reference guides and reflection questions will build your knowledge and capability around facilitating courses centered on physical activity such as Walk with Ease. Plan on spending about 90 minutes to complete the modules.
PA Basics.mp4PA Overview and Guidelines
PA Overview and Guidelines
Physical Activity Guidelines Reference Sheet
What types of physical activity are your participants currently engaging in (if any)? What types of activity do you like to do?
How would you answer a participant’s question: Why should I be physically active?
What recommendations (move more-sit less, any activity counts, start low - go slow, try different activities until you find those you like) do you think would be most useful for participants?
Why is it important that we teach about and encourage physical activity in SNAP-Ed? How does it promote healthy behaviors and chronic disease prevention?
SNAP-ED Module 2PA and Mental Flourishing
PA and Mental Flourishing
Physical Activity and Mental Health Reference Sheet
How can physical activity programming support SNAP-Ed’s work to incorporate themes of mental well-being into programs?
What impact, if any, has being active had on your personal mental health?
How do the specific communities you work with view mental health and well-being?
How would you talk to participants about the impact physical activity can have on their mental health?
PA and Motivation.mp4PA and Motivation
PA and Motivation
Motivational Interventions for Physical Activity Reference Sheet
How do the specific communities and cultures you work with view being physically active and/or exercise?
What overlap, if any, do you see between our SNAP-Ed audiences and predictors for sedentary behavior?
Thinking about the specific communities and individuals you reach through SNAP-Ed, what behavioral approaches may or may not be successful? Why?
What barriers do your communities face when it comes to being physically active? Think about how our program might help participants navigate those barriers.
Click here for additional professional development opportunities for U of MN Extension staff to improve skills and understanding for optimal delivery of Walk with Ease
Click here for additional professional development opportunities for U of MN Extension staff to improve skills and understanding for optimal delivery of Walk with Ease
Leah's pantry - contact Margaret Haggenmiller for information about when this training will be offered next
MI training - contact Nikki Johnson for information about when this training will be offered next
Systems approaches for healthy communities: - Contact Stephanie Heim to get information about relevant modules and resources from the toolkit
Arthritis Foundation WWE training - If you are interested in becoming a certified trainer for the full Walk with Ease Curriculum, you must complete the 3-hour online training provided by the Arthritis Foundation. This training is not required for facilitating the Self-Directed/Enhanced model of Walk with Ease. We are not requiring this training for University of Minnesota Extension Health and Nutrition; we will not be teaching the full Walk with Ease curriculum through our programs at this time. The cost for the training is $89.
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