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The AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project is an initiative aimed at improving well-being that began in January 2009 when the city of Albert Lea, Minnesota, launched the initiative with assistance from the United Health Foundation and led by Dan Buettner, author of "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest." [1] [2] [3]
Initiatives within the Vitality Project were divided into categories such as habitat, social networking, community, and purpose. [4] Some initiatives were specific to one category while others spanned several categories. [5]
Early in the Vitality Project, organizers invited Dan Burden to come speak to community leaders and do a "walkability audit". [17] In this audit, Burden toured Albert Lea on foot and pointed out ways that the city could make Albert Lea more walkable. [18] Since then, the city has added a sidewalk which connects several portions of a well-traveled path around Fountain Lake. [19]
The city also established a sustainability committee focused on maintaining implemented practices. Their goal is that Albert Lea will have a Vitality Center where leaders of other cities, organizations, and individuals can learn about how making small changes in lifestyle as a community can help improve health and life expectancy. [20]
On October 26, 2009, the Albert Lea City Council voted to designate the lower level of the Jacobson Apartment Building on Broadway Avenue in downtown Albert Lea as the Vitality Center. The space was refurbished and updated to accommodate the Vitality Center. The city's goal was for the Vitality Center be opened in the first part of 2010. [21]
The Vitality Project was featured in a variety of news outlets and publications. Among them are Good Morning America , [22] USA Today , [8] Minneapolis Star Tribune , [23] and Minnesota Public Radio. [24]
The initiative collaborated with Healthways and expanded to the LA beach cities - Hermosa, Redondo, and Manhattan Beach. [25] In Iowa, a statewide initiative was implemented. [25]
Freeborn County is a county in the state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,895. Its county seat is Albert Lea. Freeborn County comprises the Albert Lea Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Albert Lea is a city in Freeborn County, in southern Minnesota. It is the county seat. Its population was 18,492 at the 2020 census.
Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Pond. It was named for Austin R. Nichols, the area's first European settler.
AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over fifty. The organization, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., said it had more than 38 million members as of 2018. The magazine and bulletin it sends to its members are the two largest-circulation publications in the United States.
A walkathon (walk-a-thon), walking marathon or sponsored walk is a type of community or school fundraiser in which participants raise money by collecting donations or pledges for walking a predetermined distance or course. They are similar in format to other physical activity based fundraising events such as marathons and cycling races, but are usually non-competitive and lower intensity. The low intensity model is ideal for mobilizing broad-based community support, and as a result Walkathons usually target participants from a wide range of ages and economic backgrounds.
A walking bus is a form of student transport for young schoolchildren who, chaperoned typically by two adults, walk in a train-like procession. The children may walk to school along a set route, with some similarities to a school bus route, with designated "bus stops" and "pick up times" at which they pick up and "drop off" schoolmates.
Susanne Maria Crane is an American artist based in Minnesota.
Complete streets is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to be planned, designed, operated and maintained to enable safe, convenient and comfortable travel and access for users of all ages and abilities regardless of their mode of transportation. Complete Streets allow for safe travel by those walking, cycling, driving automobiles, riding public transportation, or delivering goods.
Dan Buettner is an American author, explorer, longevity researcher and public speaker. He co-produced the 3 time Emmy Award winning documentary TV mini series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones (2023) based on his book of the same name and holds three Guinness records for distance cycling. Buettner is the founder of Blue Zones, LLC. He is a National Geographic Fellow.
A blue zone is a region in the world where people are claimed to have exceptionally long lives beyond the age of 80 due to a lifestyle combining physical activity, low stress, rich social interactions, a local whole-foods diet, and low disease incidence. Examples of blue zones include Okinawa Prefecture, Japan; Nuoro Province, Sardinia, Italy; the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and Icaria, Greece. The name "blue zones" derived simply during the original survey by scientists, who "used a blue pen on a map to mark the villages with long-lived population."
In urban planning, walkability is the accessibility of amenities by foot. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport corridors designed for maximum vehicle throughput. Instead, it should be relatively complete livable spaces that serve a variety of uses, users, and transportation modes and reduce the need for cars for travel.
Family caregivers are "relatives, friends, or neighbors who provide assistance related to an underlying physical or mental disability for at-home care delivery and assist in the activities of daily living (ADLs) who are unpaid and have no formal training to provide those services."
Albert Lea Municipal Airport is three miles (6 km) north of Albert Lea, in Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States.
Daniel D. Sparks is an American politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 27 which included all or portions of Dodge County, Faribault County, Freeborn County, Mower County, and Steele County in the southeastern part of Minnesota.
Healthy community design is planning and designing communities that make it easier for people to live healthy lives. Healthy community design offers important benefits:
Jay Walljasper was an American writer, editor, speaker, and community consultant. He explored how new ideas in urban planning, placemaking, tourism, community development, sustainability, politics and culture could alter urban livability for the better. R.T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis (2002-14), wrote: "I've read scores of books and articles on cities, heard by now most of the very best urban minds. .. much of what I said that mattered as mayor was deeply influenced by Jay." He died of kidney cancer at 65 years old.
Mayo Clinic Health System is a system of community-based medical facilities. It is owned by Mayo Clinic and was founded in 1992. The organization focuses on providing medical care in rural communities in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. As of 2022, its facilities include 16 hospitals, 53 multispecialty clinics and one mobile health clinic. The President of Mayo Clinic Health System is Prathibha Varkey.
Capital Impact Partners, or simply Capital Impact, is an American congressionally chartered, District of Columbia nonprofit and certified community development financial institution that provides credit and financial services to underserved markets and populations in the United States. S&P Global issued Capital Impact its first rating in 2017.
Moais are social support groups that form in order to provide varying support from social, financial, health, or spiritual interests. Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" in Japanese and originated from the social support groups in Okinawa, Japan. The concept of Moais have gained contemporary attention due to the Blue Zone research popularized by Dan Buettner. According to research, Moais are considered one of the leading factors of the longevity of lifespan of the Okinawan people, making the region among the highest concentration of centenarians in the world.
Gene Dornink is a Minnesota politician and member of the Minnesota Senate. A Republican, he represents District 23, which includes all of Freeborn County and parts of Faribault, Mower, Steele, and Waseca Counties in southeastern Minnesota.