Overview 

The ISU Walk with Ease program is managed by Dr. Greg Welk and a team of staff and students affiliated with the  Physical Activity and Health Promotion Lab in the Department of Kinesiology (Click HERE to Meet the Team). Questions can be directed to our email account ([email protected]). You can also select the 'Contact Us' page to submit a form and we will get back to you.

​The research is coordinated through the ISU Translational Research Network in collaboration with the Iowa Community Hub.  Details on U-TuRN and the HUB are provided below followed by details of the two CDC-Funded projects that provide support for our ongoing work.  
U-TuRN
The Iowa State Translational Research Network (U-TuRN) is a network of transdisciplinary researchers committed to the dissemination of evidence-based interventions and programs.  ​Visit the U-TuRN website to learn more and to meet members that have led the initial launch of Walk with Ease - click here or visit https://www.uturn.iastate.edu/project/walk-with-ease/

CCPH
The ISU Community Connections for Public Health (CCPH) group is an open network designed to foster and build and support partnerships focused on broad health and human service needs (both locally and across the state). Service-learning is the key programming strategy in the ISU CCPH since it provides mutual benefits to both students and community partners.
  • Students benefit from the opportunities to apply their knowledge and skill in real-world applications and to gain professional experience.
  • Community partners, in turn, benefit from the expertise and passion of students working through their organizations.
The CCPH group is linked to the community engagement hub for the ISU Translational Research Network (U-TuRN). Through the CCPH model, we are working to build partnerships across campus and in the community to help facilitate campus/community connections. Community organizations and agencies value connections with students and campus programming but often find it hard to connect through the large campus network. Similarly, students and faculty value opportunities to work with community agencies to apply for their work but it can be challenging to make the needed connections or to sustain partnerships over time. Thus, CCPH operates as a broker and connecting hub with GivePulse as one of our primary tools. Key strategic goals for CCPH Organizations are to:
  • Leverage the knowledge, wisdom, and experience in communities and in academic institutions to solve pressing health, social, environmental, and economic challenges.
  • Ensure that community-driven social change is central to the work of community-academic partnerships.
  • Build the capacity of communities and academic institutions to engage each other in partnerships that balance power, share resources, and work towards systems change.
Thus, the CCPH hub is designed to provide a way to link the community and campus together for mutual benefit. Students and faculty benefit from the chance to connect with and serve the community while the community benefits from the support and assistance of motivated and engaged students and faculty. If you are interested in joining the cause and helping us to build this vision please contact us at [email protected] or through our U-TuRN group ([email protected]). Direct inquiries can also be made to Dr. Greg Welk, the faculty coordinator of CCPH and the director of U-TuRN ([email protected]). 
​Wellness Works
Wellness Works is an outreach program coordinated by the Physical Activity and Health Promotion Lab in the Department of Kinesiology at Iowa State University. Programming is led by students working through internships, independent studies, and class-based service learning programming through an upper division Kinesiology course (HS 380 - Worksite Health Promotion). Click here to learn more about our team and our approach.

CDC-Funded Projects

Fall Prevention Trial

A team of interdisciplinary researchers from the U-TuRN group received funding from the CDC to run a randomized controlled trial in a community setting to evaluate the potential of the Walk with Ease program for fall prevention in older adults (See Press Release). The project is managed through a Cooperative Agreement with the CDC and details on the trial are available from ClinicalTrials.gov (Link).

The project  has been conducted in collaboration with a local team of physical therapists, clinicians, fitness programmers and public health leaders. To promote clinical referrals and to help ensure sustainability over time, we have established the Story County Falls Prevention Coalition. See links and information on the Iowa Falls Prevention Coalition webpage.  

State Arthritis Programming 

A team of interdisciplinary researchers from the U-TuRN group partnered with ISU Extension and Outreach and the Iowa Community HUB to help improve arthritis care in Iowa. The team received funding from the CDC through a Cooperative Agreement to promote the statewide dissemination of Arthritis Appropriate Evidence-Based Interventions (AAEBIs). The project is coordinated through the HUB (see Press Release) and capitalizes on expertise in community-engagement strategies and implementation science methods to evaluate programming and the capacity-building process  (Link).