Background
Since WHI began, local schemes have been encouraged to collect data on participants and keep registers of attendance. Most schemes have recorded this information in local databases and used it to evaluate their work and to show funders how they are meeting targets for encouraging physical activity.

As the need for such physical activity becomes increasingly evident, WHI is aware that:

• the burden on the NHS of physical inactivity continues to grow;
  
• health inequalities continue to be a serious issue;
  
• health walks can help to address these problems and save the NHS money.

However, to prove this, WHI needs to upgrade its data so that policy makers, funders, health professionals and public alike know exactly what we offer and what we are achieving.

New evaluation scheme
This new scheme is designed to highlight WHI's achievements through the collection of robust data that has been gathered systematically, in a standardised way, at local, regional and national level.

From November 2007 onwards the data will be collected, on an individual basis, from all new walkers on all health walk schemes.

Outdoor Health Questionnaire
The main tool of the new evaluation is a simple 2-sided form which combines the health walk screening questionnaire and contact details form with a few data collection questions. Each walker simply has to fill in this one straightforward form - entitled the Outdoor Health Questionnaire or OHQ - at the start of their first walk.
Please find a link to this form at the bottom of the page along with completion guidance notes.

Data collected
The data collection questions enable WHI to gain a local and national picture of who is taking part in health walks. Walkers are asked for their postcode, age range, gender, ethnic background and particular health conditions.

A supplementary question will ask people how physically active they are at the point of joining a health walk. This has the potential to form a very important part of the national evaluation and could also be asked again, after a period of time, to establish how physical activity levels have changed.

WHI has been working with partners - notably the British Heart Foundation, Sport England and BTCV - in consultation with NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) to develop this new evaluation system. The process will be fully compliant with the Data Protection Act and the data will not be traceable to individuals, only an identifying number. All the necessary data protection systems will be incorporated into this process so that the data can be used by local schemes as well as by WHI at a national level.

Outdoor Health Questionnaire

Outdoor Health Questionnaire Guidance Leaflet