What are you doing and why?
We are running 1,675 miles to 30 of 36 Oregon counties and Boise, Idaho, to encourage a healthy lifestyle and to support Oregon’s first accredited college of public health, part of Oregon State University.
Is someone paying you to run?
The run was our idea, which we brought to the college. The dean enthusiastically supports us, and the College of Public Health and Human Sciences is largely supporting the run, with a small amount contributed from private donations.
Can I run with you?
Sure! We invite the community – especially OSU alums! – to join us for as long as they want – by foot, bike or wheelchair. Physical activity is for everyone!
Can I make a donation to support the run?
There is no special fund for the Health Extension Run, but if you would like to make a donation, you can give us the money and we will put it in a secure place until we reach campus in September. We will write down who donated the money and how much they gave, then we will give the money to the college to be put into the CPHHS Dean’s Excellence Fund at the OSU Foundation. That fund is used to provide opportunities for students, faculty and programs in the college.
See the donations page for details on how to donate online.
Do I have to run to be healthy? What else can I do and how much do I need?
Exercising for about 20-30 minutes a day for at least three days a week is a good goal. If you can’t make it to a gym, try walking around the neighborhood, taking the stairs instead of elevator or doing whatever it is you like to do that gets your heartbeat up! We do NOT recommend running around the state like we are – we are well trained and prepared for this challenge.
So what’s so special about this college?
It’s Oregon’s FIRST accredited college of public health and human sciences and addresses the leading causes of death, disease and injury. It is holistically addressing the big issues that affect health across the lifespan – chronic and infectious disease, injury, obesity, health policy, aging, occupational and environmental health, nutrition, physical activity, lifestyle and behavior, and preparing children for success.
The college focuses on the 90 percent of things that make you healthy – from birth through your senior years. Did you know that for every $1 spent on prevention, $5.60 is saved in health care costs?
Three times the number of current public health graduates is needed to meet the health challenges of the future. Not only does the college offer the MPH, it is one of only a few to offer an undergraduate public health degree and the only in Oregon to offer a PhD.
Undergraduate students can study Exercise and Sport Science, Human Development and Family Sciences, Public Health and/or Nutrition.
For more information on the college, head to health.oregonstate.edu/future-of-health.
What is Extension and how does it help communities?
OSU Extension Service has had a presence in every county in Oregon for more than 100 years and is the only college or university in Oregon who can say that. Additionally, of the nation’s 50-plus accredited schools of public health, OSU’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences is the only one with community outreach built in.
Because the college and university believe in local solutions, more than 100 PHHS Extension and Public Health Practice faculty work hand-in-hand with communities across the state to explore new ways to collaborate and leverage resources to improve health.
Here are three examples of how Extension outreach helps communities:
Oregon State’s two largest grants live in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences and are led by Extension faculty. Together, they total nearly $10 million and explore healthy lifestyles and obesity prevention.
1) Grow Healthy Kids and Communities is a five-year, multi-level, $4.8 million research project designed to inspire children, families, schools and communities to create opportunities to eat healthy and be physically active most every day. It partners with OSU Extension and Extension Services in six Western states to explore obesity in rural environments and develop strategies that lead to healthy lifestyles.
2) Led by Associate Professor Siew Sun Wong and funded by a $4.7 million USDA grant, WAVE~ Ripples for Change is a five-year, skill-building program to determine the effectiveness of virtual and real-world learning environments on obesity prevention in active youth ages 15-17. About 500 active teens ages 15 to 17 will engage in three different life skills programs, including a real-world scenario where teens learn about growing their own food, cooking and preparing healthy, inexpensive meals at home, and staying active.
The other two programs use cutting-edge technology to create virtual environments where teens will practice these same skills but as an avatar in a 3-D virtual world. One virtual world will be “realistic,” based on the real environment; the other will be a fantasy world where anything is possible.
3) Portland outreach
The college is expanding its outreach Portland, where a collaboration between the college and Bob’s Red Mill sprouted new growth with the addition of new endowed PHHS Extension and Community Health Specialist Renee Carr. Renee began implementing education around whole grains and healthy eating with 20 K-8 schools in the Portland metro area in 2014.
What does accreditation mean? Why does it matter?
Accreditation literally puts the college on the map and in good company with the nation’s 50-plus accredited schools and colleges of public health. That raises its visibility and reputation, ensures the quality and value of its students’ education and degrees, increases its ability to attract committed students and world-class faculty, and helps it secure the resources to support the things it does that are most important.
This includes educating the next generation of globally minded public health and human sciences professionals, researching and learning new ways to ensure health across the lifespan, and finally bringing that knowledge to its partnership with the public to improve their lifelong health and well-being.
As an accredited college of public health and human sciences, the college is positioned to:
- Enhance and build the health professions workforce, fending off a predicted shortage of public health professionals
- Apply human sciences such as family science, nutrition, human development and exercise science to public health issues
- Expand its outreach network of local health departments, health providers, environmental organizations and health Extension programs in nutrition, family and community health and 4-H
- Bring critical research to bear in solving problems and informing public policy
- Grow the economy, benefiting the state and region
- Apply interventions to help manage chronic disease