URBAN Trail Research

Program evaluation and mental/physical health effects of walking the URBAN Trail

Dr. Camhi and Ashley Burdick

Ashley Burdick, Kinesiology

The Effects of the Guided Urban Trail on Stress, Mindfulness and Physical Activity

Authors: Ashley V. Burdick (Kinesiology) and Sarah M. Camhi, PhD

Presented at USF's Creative Activity and Research Day May 4th 2022

Introduction: In Fall 2021, Dr. Sarah Camhi created a mindful walking trail intended to increase physical activity and mental health of faculty, staff and students at University of San Francisco. The purpose of the current research was to 1) explore the potential changes in mental health (stress, mindfulness and anxiety) and 2) measure physical activity during participation in the guided walk format.

Methods: Kinesiology students from University of San Francisco were invited to participate and eligible if they were at least 18 years of age, able to read/write english, had access to a cell phone, able to stand and walk for at least 25 minutes. Two validated surveys measuring state mental health constructs of mindfulness, anxiety, and stress were used to assess the effect before and after completing the URBAN trail. The Short Stress State Questionnaire (SSSQ) measured constructs of worry, distress, and engagement on a 1–5 Likert scale (1=“Not at all”; 5=“Extremely”). The Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) measured curiosity and de-centering on a 0–4 Likert scale (0=“Not at all”; 4=“Very Much”). Anxiety was measured using a visual analogue scale and score 1-10 (10=greatest anxiety). Physical activity was estimated via steps with a Yamax pedometer worn at the hip.

Results: Dr. Sarah Camhi led the guided trail on two different occasions for two different classes during the Fall 2021 semester. Thirty-three Kinesiology students agreed to participate and had complete data (44.1% freshman, 5.8% sophomore, 5.8% junior, 44.1% senior) Participants with valid data (n=31) averaged 1713 ± 337 steps. Changes in mental health variables pre- and post-URBAN trail among participants (n=33) were determined by paired samples t-tests with averages and standard deviations taken for descriptive statistics. Stress was reduced on average 3.09 ± 6.74 points (p=0.01), with distress decreasing 3.97 ± 5.16 points (p=0.0001), engagement increasing 1.36 ± 2.51 points (p=0.004), and no significant differences for worry. For mindfulness, total scores increased on average 2.48 ± 9.78 points (p=0.15), with de-centering increasing 2.09 ± 5.70 points (p=0.04) and no significant differences observed for curiosity. Anxiety was reduced by an average of 1.58 ± 1.50 points (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that completion of the guided URBAN Trail can produce significant results for reducing anxiety, reducing stress, and increasing specific components of mindfulness among university students. Future studies should confirm results in a larger, more diverse sample of students in other majors and include faculty, staff, and community members in order to explore results among sex, race/ethnicity, age, and level of regular physical activity. Future studies should also explore whether these effects are similar among a self-guided trail option.

Program Evaluation of the Guided URBAN Trail: A USF Community-Engaged Health Promotion Project

Ava Sorenson (Biology) and Sarah M. Camhi, PhD

Presented at USF's Creative Activity and Research Day May 4th 2022

Background: The URBAN Trail is a guided walk created at the University of San Francisco aimed at increasing mindfulness and physical activity. The walk’s mindfulness prompts based on USF Alumni Hal Urban’s book The Power of Good News: Feeding Your Mind with What's Good for Your Heart. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this activity for feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness, in order to inform future changes

Methods: Individuals who participated in this study were recruited through newsletters, emails, and word of mouth to faculty, staff, students and the local community of University of San Francisco. Participants signed up for the guided walk of the trail via an online sign up sheet and chose dates between October 26th-November 17th 2021. Walks were guided by Dr. Sarah Camhi, as well as students involved in the creation of the trail, and students from KIN330 Health Promotion. At the end of the walk, participants were asked to answer a 2-3 minute online survey via mobile phone where participants could opt to enter into a raffle. The survey was multiple choice and fill in the blank and done through the Qualtrics software. Data was summarized from the survey.

Results: A total of 17 guided walks were offered with 251 participants who signed up. Approximately 79% of those who signed up attended, and 91% of attendees completed the feedback survey. Participants were 75% USF students, 18% USF faculty or staff, 3% USF alumni, and 3% were community members. The majority of individuals said they chose to be on the trail to add more physical activity to their day (21%), take a mental break from work/school (32%) or support a friend/colleague (24%). In rating the overall enjoyment of the trail, 87% rated excellent or good. The highest rated stop of the trail was at the peace garden whereas the lowest rated stop was Kalmanovitz amphitheater. In asking participants to reflect on the effectiveness of the trail in spreading good news, in accordance with the mission statement, 91% strongly agreed or agreed. Participants found the URBAN Trail most useful for improving stress (strongly agree or agree at 83%), improving anxiety (strongly agree or agree at 73%) and increasing physical activity (strongly agree or agree at 89%). Approximately 57.14% of participants said they were very likely or likely to do the guided URBAN Trail again and 79.83% were very likely or likely to recommend the guided URBAN Trail to others. Participants said they were very likely or likely to do the URBAN Trail in a format where they could access it on their own time (73.73%), 82.2% were very likely or likely to do the URBAN Trail using signage around the USF campus, 71.19% were very likely or likely to access additional information using a QR code and 64.95% were very likely or likely to use a web-based app on their phone to guide the trail.

Conclusion: The results from the feedback survey suggest high satisfaction, enjoyment and successful translation of a mindfulness physical activity from the URBAN Trail. Suggestions for the future format will guide a successful translation into a self-guided format.

Coming Soon: Research on the Self-Guided Trail

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