The AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project is an initiative aimed at improving well-being that began in January 2009 when the city of Albert Lea, Minnesota, launched the initiative with assistance from the United Health Foundation and led by Dan Buettner, author of "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest."
Initiatives within the Vitality Project were divided into categories such as habitat, social networking, community, and purpose. Some initiatives were specific to one category while others spanned several categories.[1]
Early in the Vitality Project, organizers invited Dan Burden to come speak to community leaders and do a "walkability audit". In this audit, Burden toured Albert Lea on foot and pointed out ways that the city could make Albert Lea more walkable. Since then, the city has added a sidewalk which connects several portions of a well-traveled path around Fountain Lake.
The city also established a sustainability committee focused on maintaining implemented practices. Their goal is that Albert Lea will have a Vitality Center where leaders of other cities, organizations, and individuals can learn about how making small changes in lifestyle as a community can help improve health and life expectancy.
On October 26, 2009, the Albert Lea City Council voted to designate the lower level of the Jacobson Apartment Building on Broadway Avenue in downtown Albert Lea as the Vitality Center. The space was refurbished and updated to accommodate the Vitality Center. The city's goal was for the Vitality Center be opened in the first part of 2010.
The Vitality Project was featured in a variety of news outlets and publications. Among them are Good Morning America, USA Today, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Minnesota Public Radio.
According to Star Tribune in 2015, the project resulted in a 70 percent increase in walking in the city, smoking decreasing by 4 percent, and participants in the program losing a combined 4 tons of weight.[2] Due to the success of the pilot project in Albert Lea, the initiative collaborated with Healthways and expanded to the LA beach cities - Hermosa, Redondo, and Manhattan Beach - from a list of 55 applicants. Over the course of three years, Gallup-Healthways measurements showed noticeable improvement in well-being, including a 14 percent reduction in obesity (compared to 3 percent statewide in California), a 30 percent decrease in smoking, and better eating habits and increased physical activity. In Iowa, a statewide initiative was implemented and significant reductions in obesity rates and healthcare costs have been observed in the state, with statistics estimating $5 billion in healthcare savings over a decade. According to themselves, the Blue Zones project has spread to over 70 communities across North America and impacted approximately 4.35 million people.[3]