Albert Lea has been chosen as the focus of an intense 10-month pilot AARP/Blue Zones City Health Makeover designed to improve the health and longevity of the city’s residents.

In an announcement today, AARP and Blue Zones officials said the goal of the makeover is to add 10,000 years of projected life expectancy to the community, which equals out to at least two years of projected life expectancy for each participant, according to a news release.

The makeover pilot project will be made official at a noon press conference today at Albert Lea City Hall. It is a collaboration of AARP, the world’s largest membership organization for people age 50 and older, and Blue Zones, one of the world’s leading expert organizations studying longevity. It is funded by the United Health Foundation.

What does the health makeover entail?

Instead of focusing on a diet and exercise program, the makeover will encourage the best practices of the world’s longest-lived populations.

“The goal is for the program to become a scalable public health initiative that can be replicated by other American communities and/or individuals,” according to the release.

Starting today and going into October, there will be large, citywide events featuring national experts. Those experts will work in collaboration with Albert Lea’s community leaders and work to enhance the health and wellness of people of all ages who live in the city.

In addition to work on the community level, the makeover will encourage people to make “subtle but powerful changes” to their personal living environments, the news release stated. By bringing about changes on both the community and individual level, the makeover is anticipated to create long-term benefits to every person’s health and longevity in the city.

It will focus on four domains, including improving the community environment, emphasizing social networks, improving habitat and finding a sense of purpose.

Blue Zones founder Dan Buettner, a Minnesotan who is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest,” will be in Albert Lea today to kick off the project. He will be the project leader.

He said 10 percent of a person’s lifespan can be attributed to inherited genes, but the remaining 90 percent is attributed to lifestyle.

He has traveled all over the world and met the world’s longest-lived people. He’s learned that all of these people, no matter where they live, all follow certain principles that put them on a path to a longer life. These are principles of everyday life, such as the foods they ate, the company they kept and their perspectives on life.

“Let’s be clear,” Buettner said in the release. “No one wants to live to be a 100 years old and feel old. We want to live that long and live well!”

Following today’s press conference, Buettner, along with community leaders and Dan Burden, an international expert on walkability and townmaking, will go on a walking audit of the community.

A bus will leave from Albert Lea City Hall to visit three neighborhoods. Based on that audit and the information learned about Albert Lea, Burden will create a custom presentation for Albert Lea based on what he’s heard.

Then on Friday, Burden will present his findings, and other workshops will be held with different people from the community.

The events on these two days are just the start of many events to come related to the makeover.

What is the timeframe of the makeover?

The first phase of the project will begin today and will include a citywide audit of Albert Lea’s physical environment, governmental policies and business practices related to healthy behaviors, the release stated. Then from that audit, community leaders will develop a plan for environmental improvements that encourage healthy behaviors.

Experts will work closely with places that serve food, in cafeteria-type environments, to see what kinds of changes can be done there, said Joel Spoonheim, health initiative director with Blue Zones. They also will meet with grocer managers, to name a few of the initiatives.

The second phase of the project will begin in April and will focus on encouraging individuals in the community to make changes on their own levels to their homes and lifestyles.

People of all ages who live and work in Albert Lea are encouraged to participate. More information will be made available soon at Blue Zones that will explain how participants can participate in the makeover. For residents who do not have access to the Internet at home, the city will be making specific efforts to ensure that everyone can participate.

In late March or early April an interactive, educational Web site will be launched to encourage other communities to do their own makeovers.

Then in October, the project will end with a series of community events to recognize the results of the makeover.

Results will be featured nationwide.

Success is measured by the results of a longevity calculator called a “vitality compass” that is on the Blue Zones Web site. People are encouraged to take the vitality test once in late March and once at the end of the makeover.

The vitality compass estimates how long people will live given their current lifestyles and habits and estimates how many of those years will be healthy years, the release stated. It 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,” according to the release.

It’s a series of 35 questions that takes about four minutes to complete.

Why Albert Lea?

Several small cities in Wisconsin and Minnesota who met certain demographic and health statistics were asked to apply for the makeover, and then if community leaders agreed to apply, they sent in proposals explaining how they would help the 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,” the release stated.

But in the end, Albert Lea was chosen

Amy McDonough, associate state director of communications with AARP, said researchers recommended the team look at a city between 10,000 and 20,000 in population.

Albert Lea fits in that criteria as it is just under 20,000.

“That size is important because there’s enough community systems but small enough that you could measure the success,” Spoonheim said.

They also looked at demographics, and Albert Lea is “pretty much statistically average,” he said. While the norm is not healthy, Albert Lea is not sicker or healthier than the average. Thus, any other average city in America will be able to replicate this project.

He also said the Albert Leans they spoke with gave a positive response.

Not to mention, Albert Lea is close to the headquarters of both Blue Zones and the University of Minnesota. 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.

But all of these considerations aside, “it was really the proposal and the commitment that the community leaders had,” McDonough said.

Spoonheim added, “You all are doing good work, so that showed there’s already an existing commitment to do the right thing. There was also a commitment to do more.”

They also like the fact that the city is on lakes. This gives people a motivation to walk and be active.

Michele Kimball, state director of AARP in Minnesota, said AARP is eager to help Albert Lea transform its community.

“We look forward to supporting the city as its residents make small changes that can greatly increase the number of healthy years they can experience,” Kimball said. “Through this project, the residents of Albert Lea will be empowered to make their city one of the best places in America to lead a long, healthy life.”

Albert Lea Community Development Director Bob Graham and Albert Lea Community Education Director Chris Chalmers will be the local co-chairman for the process.

“We’re just excited that this opportunity is coming to our community,” Chalmers said. “From a Community Ed perspective, we’re always looking for ways to provide ways for our community to become involved and lead vital lives. The Blue Zones will provide us with new ways to do that.”

He had read Buettner’s “Blue Zones” book before Albert Lea was contacted about the possibility of the makeover, and he’s excited about the possibilities it can bring for the community.

“We’re just looking forward to getting people involved in our community,” Chalmers said. “That’s what it’s going to take, getting people involved and willing to try something new.”

Albert Lea City Manager Victoria Simonsen also encouraged people to take advantage of the opportunity to improve their lives while also shining a positive spotlight on Albert Lea.
“We are pleased to be chosen for this project, and ready to go to work to make Albert Lea a healthier place to live and work,” Simonsen said.

People who would like to be a part of the workshops on Friday can register for those by phone at 377-4315 or by e-mail at wflugum@albertlea.org. The workshops are limited to 80 people.