About the AARP/Bluezones Vitality Project

What is Blue Zones?

Founded by Dan Buettner, Blue Zones is an organization that studies the world's longest-lived populations for wellness information and lifestyle management tools that can help Americans live longer, healthier lives.

Over six years, Buettner and his award-winning team of scientists have journeyed to four specific regions whose populations is reaching age 100 at an extraordinarily high rate. These longevity hotspots are called "Blue Zones." They are Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California and the Nicoyan Penninsula in Costa Rica. Buettner and his team of scientists identify and study these regions' common threads in lifestyle behavior, diet, outlook and stress-coping mechanisms. The AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project will bring elements of these common "Blue Zone" practices to Albert Lea.

What are the Blue Zone practices that will be put to work in the makeover?

The AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project will focus on four areas that are crucial to health and longevity: Community Environment, Social Networks, Habitat and Individual Sense of Purpose.

Improving Community Environment means making the active option the easy option where people work, live and go to school. Are sidewalks and bike trails available, smooth, safe and well connected to places people need to go? Can employers, community centers, churches, public sports facilities and schools that serve food make more nutritious options available? A community-wide audit will assess improvements that can be made in these areas.

Emphasizing Social Networks - Research shows that your social circle as a quiet, but powerful impact on your long-term health behaviors. The project will focus on helping participants identify and spend time with friends and family who have a positive impact on their health. In addition, it aims to encourage participants to expand their social circles to include more positive influences.

Improving Habitat means making subtle changes to your home and work environment to increase calories burned and reduce the calories eaten. Experts will help residents improve their personal environments and eat healthier without thinking about it.

Finding a Sense of Purpose - People who have a purpose in life live approximately seven years longer than people who tend to drift through the day. The makeover will feature seminars to assist Albert Lea residents in identifying their values, passions and talents, as well as find outlets to put these qualities to good use.

Will there be other makeovers?

We know that additional years of life and better health can be achieved through some relatively simple changes to behaviors and environments. We wanted to put this to a test by selecting the city of Albert Lea to take the makeover challenge with the intent that if one city can do it, more can and will follow along. The goal is for this program to become a scalable public health initiative that can be replicated by other American communities and/or individuals.

How was Albert Lea, MN chosen as the city for the makeover?

After reviewing the demographic and health statistics of several small cities in Wisconsin and Minnesota, targeted cities were asked to apply and they competed to be the subject of the makeover. Community leaders sent in comprehensive proposals explaining how they would help this project succeed. All of the proposals were strong and presented a difficult decision for the selection team that was made up of a group of experts from AARP and Blue Zones.

Why Albert Lea, MN?

Albert Lea was selected because:

• Based on the recommendation of public health experts, the project is being piloted in a town of 10-20,000 people. Albert Lea has approximately 18,000 residents.
• City leaders assembled a leadership team that is ready and excited to help lead this effort on the ground. Elected officials, school administrators, the health community and employers in Albert Lea have made a commitment to support community changes and to help individual residents make personal changes.
• In addition, Albert Lea has statistically average health conditions for the United States. Thus, any other average city in America will be able to replicate this project.
• Albert Lea is close to the headquarters of both Blue Zones and the University of Minnesota. Dan Buettner, a Minnesotan and author of The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, will lead the effort. The faculty from the University of Minnesota will act as academic advisors and will provide research insights and help measure the success of the project.

How will the success of the project be measured?

By asking participants to calculate their life expectancy with a longevity calculator called the "Vitality Compass" twice - once in late March and again at the end of the project - we will be able to measure the success of the project and the impact of healthy changes on the projected longevity of residents of Albert Lea. The Vitality Compass estimates how long you will live given your current lifestyle and habits. It also estimates how many of those years will be healthy years. The Vitality Compass is a highly-complex scientific algorithm created by Blue Zones™ in collaboration with the University of Minnesota School of Public Health using more than 350 recognized studies that measure the impact of certain behaviors on health. When it is taken more than once, the Vitality Compass measures the impact of changes in behavior and adjusts its projection. The compass is a series of 35 questions that takes about 4 minutes to complete.  While the Vitality Compass is an accurate predictor of how someone's behaviors affect their longevity, it is not a health-risk assessment tool.  Rather the Vitality Compass will help individuals understand and improve their positive healthy behaviors.

What changes will be pursued by city and community leaders?

An environmental scan of Albert Lea will be conducted throughout January, assessing opportunities to make physical changes that will impact health. The AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project team will then work with community leaders, major employers, restaurants, grocery stores and school officials, etc. to implement community-level physical environment changes. The expert team will offer realistic short-term policy recommendations for the town.

For example, experts will assess how residents might become less dependent on cars. Are sidewalks and bike trails smooth, safe, and well connected to places people want to go? In addition, community centers, churches, public sports facilities, and schools will review the nutrition of the food they offer and make better options available and priced competitively. Employers in Albert Lea will also assess what their cafeterias offer and how they can help promote health among their employees.

Why is this an AARP project?

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization with more than 40 million members that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP's highest priorities are health and economic security for all generations. Because of advances in health care, people are living longer lives, and redefining what it means to grow older. AARP knows that people don't want to just live longer, they want to live healthier and purposeful lives. AARP is interested in developing ways to help people of all ages and all communities live healthier and purposeful lives.

Why is the United Health Foundation (UHF) supporting this project?

Guided by a passion to help people live healthier lives, the United Health Foundation provides helpful information to support decisions that lead to better health outcomes and healthier communities.  The United Health Foundation is committed to promoting innovation in the health of individuals and communities and is proud to support the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project as a model that can be replicated in cities nationwide.