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Thread: Are we setting the correct metrics for success?
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Are we setting the correct metrics for success?
Posted 08/01/10 at 12:30 by Andrew Combes
“You say NCMP I say School Census / School Travel Health Check” – where do we end up? Missing opportunities to move forward...
• We all want more children walking and cycling more often.
• We all support active interventions to achieve this.
• We all want to be able to measure / show change.
But are we measuring things in a way that will facilitate this?
Coming from the world of transport I spotted early on that our official measure for travel to school was blunt and uninformative: NI198 - Car use. It would tell you which schools had high levels of car use but failed to inform on why and what can be done about it. So we cooked up the School Travel Health Check (STHC)- this contains ‘Metrics for success’ such as car use within walk threshold, calories used by walkers and cyclists and Co2 per head for those coming by vehicle. The STHC as well as identifying where the issues are also identifies realistic solutions.
This brings me to the world of health and the use of NCMP as a measure for active travel interventions...
Does it offer answers to the ‘Why’ and ‘What can be done about it’ questions? On its own I am not sure it does. Equally I am worried that it is leading to commitment to interventions that will struggle to achieve the intended results and could well undermine the real value of active travel to school. The focus of Bike It on the year 6 obesity target is a particular worry. Walking initiatives are better but need to be properly targeted.
When it comes to children’s active travel to school we have a fantastic resource in the form of School Census / STHC – we need to make sure we make best use of it. For your NCMP targets take a look at the STHC and have a think about what additional measures will illuminate the questions ‘Why?’ and ‘What can be done?’
Always happy to discuss: 01823 432946.