Monash Sport News

Getting ACCTIVE at the Monash University Caulfield campus.

The purpose of this briefing note is to provide some context to and to outline the concept of ACCTIVE.

ACCTIVE stands for an "Active Campus Community To Increase Vitality and Energy"

ACCTIVE is a joint initiative of a number of service providers concerned with improving the health & well being of the Monash Caulfield campus community. These services include the Offices of the Campus Academic Director and Campus Manager, the Campus Health Service and Monash Sport.

Background

The state of health and well being within our community has become a focus in recent months. The Obesity crisis that Australia now faces- we are now amongst the most overweight and obese nations in the world with around 60% of adults and 25% of children and adolescents overweight-has seen federal and state government policy and initiatives launched in order to address the significant health issue this problem causes. Health professionals around the country agree that there is no one diet or physical activity program and no one specialist service that will address the community health issue. In fact there is a general consensus that joined up multi disciplinary approaches have the best chance of "making a difference" when it comes to improved health and well being outcomes.

It is with that backdrop of community health concerns in mind that a number of services located at Monash University's Caulfield Campus got together and re-designed and delivered a Campus Health Week held between August 23-28 2004 which aimed at creating awareness of the benefits of good health and well being as well as opportunities to participate in gentle physical activity. There were two key activities conducted during Health Week one being a Healthy Breakfast which saw around 90 staff and students not only enjoy a healthy breakfast but listen to a key note presentation on the benefits of a well balanced healthy lifestyle. The other key initiative was the Brown Bag Lunch and (Group) Campus Walk around Caulfield Racecourse involving over 50 staff and students.

Aside from the fact that over 100 members of the Monash University Caulfield community enjoyed the incidental health benefits and collegial camaraderie of joining in these activities a key outcome from the Health Week was a realization that the service providers were all doing something to improve the health of the campus community but that by coming together for these events there was a greater chance to make that difference. In a post Health week conversation the service providers discussed ways of continuing the health promotion on an ongoing sustainable basis.

The service providers recognized that :

• The Caulfield campus is unique and that any strategy/initiative considered needs to take into account the physical lay out of the campus and the make up of the community it services.
• The campus community had a history of coming together for events resources for such program appear limited at present and that any initiative introduced needed to be low cost and, with minimal assistance and support, be self sustaining.
• There are a number of successful schemes and programs developed by Health Promotion bodies such as VicHealth and the Heart Foundation that could be considered for application into the Campus community.
• The concept of a fostering a healthy campus community aligned strongly with the directions set out in the University's strategic plans with particular emphasis on engaging and building community. The service group also thought that the health and well being initiatives should connect with the university's academic and research strengths.

10,000 Steps to ACCTIVE Success

A steering group of campus service providers self convened and using the knowledge and experience contained within the group set about identifying possible physical activity and well being programs that might lend itself to the needs and psyche of the Campus community. Members of the group had had some knowledge of the Heart Foundation endorsed "10,000 Steps" Program and after some research into the program, which included connecting with the devisors of the Steps program at Central Queensland University and the Queensland Government the steering group agreed to try and introduce the program to the Monash Caulfield community in late 2004 as the first step in the ACCTIVE@ Caulfield program.

The decision to proceed was based on the proven success of the program nationally, the high level of support, particularly in terms of operating structures and systems , provided by the Heart Foundation and the low cost and limited barriers to participating in the program. Once a decision was made the group went about combining its limited available resources to launch the program as well as garnering the support of senior members of the university community including the Vice Chancellor, DVC Resources, Deans and Departmental Heads. Once launched the program will be supported by members of the ACCTIVE group in their `day jobs' over the summer period with a view to including a number of ACCTIVE initiatives onto the Caulfield campus during 2005.

Conclusion

The acronym ACCTIVE was developed to describe what this joint approach is trying to achieve which is through developing a cohesive joined up approach to aid the delivery of events and programs which might lead to sustainable improvements in individual and campus vitality and energy within the campus community. But what is also important is that the success of Health Week has led to a realization by service providers that by working together towards a common goal the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The whole exercise surrounding the creation of ACCTIVE and the introduction of the 10,000 steps program at Monash University Caulfield campus demonstrates that you don't need lots of money and resources to make a positive difference just a desire to effect that change both individually and collectively!

ACCTIVE Steering Group

Helen Dunne - Campus Manager
Dr Jill Grogan - Campus Medical Officer
Judy Evans - Campus Nurse
Christel Kent - Office of the Academic Director
Martin Doulton - General Manager Monash Sport

Download the 1000 Steps Information Sheet (156K, Adobe Acrobat .pdf format)