Wellness Engagement Project, Petersburg (WE)

This 12-week program was designed based on input from Petersburg, VA community residents, collected through various methods over a two-year period. The 12 week program is designed to impact three levels: individual, family and community. At the individual level, participants receive print material lessons related to healthy eating and increasing physical activity, as well as videos that model these lessons; participants will also have access to a peer support coach who will contact them on a biweekly basis and are trained to help them identify and reach their own personal health goals. At the family level, participants are encouraged to share all of the information they receive as a part of this program with the rest of their family, and are asked to begin walking regularly and to attend fitness and nutrition classes held within their neighborhood (by the WE program) with family members. On a community level, local church groups and neighborhood organizations will receive assistance in launching walking clubs, and all community residents are invited to attend the physical activity and nutrition classes that the WE project hosts within the community.