The Wray Health Initiative

In the early 1990s, the rural community of Wray Colorado received a new, state-of-the-art recreation and rehabilitation facility through foundation grants and donations. The facility was primarily intended to serve recovering cardiac patients and was also open to community members at affordable rates. Despite the fact that the facility was the only one of its kind in Wray and that nearest medical facility was 2.5 hours away, it was underutilized and patients were not following through with their recovery plans. The community formed the Wray Health Initiative (WHI) in order to increase community involvement in order to increase utilization of the rehabilitation center and improve health in the community.

Medical providers, city government, and local residents formed the leadership board of WHI and through grants from the Rural Health Outreach Project and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, WHI was able to conduct surveys and determine the community’s barriers to exercise and then implement targeted interventions. The funding also allowed for individual health assessments of community members. The community was motivated to take ownership over the interventions, encouraging them to name the programs and turn exercise programs into group activities. A walking club was formed and structures that encouraged outdoor activity were installed.

To improve health in the rural community of Wray Colorado by increasing the level of physical activities, conducting health assessments, and encouraging individual physical activity.

Three years following the creation of the WHI, three times as many people were regularly participating in community-based walking programs. Regular use of both indoor and outdoor fitness and recreation facilities remained steady. The group documented changes in individual health assessments and improvements in the rehabilitation of cardiac patients. The WHI also reported cultural changes in the community: two local restaurants became non-smoking facilities through WHI advocacy efforts and now the local grocery store displays the WHI logo on heart-healthy food items.