| Course | HLTH 5493 Health and Wellness Program Design and Implementation |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 5 |
| Paper type | Program proposal |
| Length | 1,530 words, about 6 pages plus title and reference pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | American College of Education |
| Program | M.Ed. in Health and Wellness Education |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for HLTH 5493 Module 5
Walking Together to Linden Park: A Full Program Proposal for a Walking School Bus, With an Evaluation Plan and a Strategy to Outlast the First Grant
Student Name
American College of Education
HLTH5493: Health and Wellness Program Design and Implementation
Module 5 Assignment
Instructor Name
August 31, 2026
Executive Summary
Most children at Linden Park Elementary live close enough to walk to school, yet a classroom tally found that only about one in nine does. The school is a composite Title I campus with roughly 430 children. Parents told us why so few walk: they will not let children walk without a trusted adult on streets they see as dangerous. This proposal requests support for a walking school bus, in which trained adults walk groups of children along three fixed routes four mornings a week. The program is based on trials in which similar programs increased walking and daily activity. In its first year it aims to double the share of students walking, from 11% to 22%, to raise parents' confidence and to add at least 10 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous activity for regular walkers. The first-year cost is $15,030 in cash, most of it for a part-time coordinator, with substantial in-kind support from the county health department, the school, the city and volunteers.
Statement of Need
Children of school age are advised to get an hour of moderate-to-vigorous activity daily, and a walk to school adds part of that hour without cutting into lessons. Nationally, walking to school has become uncommon: in 2017 fewer than one student in ten usually walked and about 1% biked (Kontou et al., 2020). At Linden Park, 64% of students live inside the one-mile zone where the district provides no bus, but 71% arrive by car. A PRECEDE-PROCEED assessment (Green & Kreuter, 2005), including listening sessions with 31 family members, a survey of 188 families and route audits with the city traffic engineer, traced the gap to parents' worries about cars and strangers, early work shifts, an unstaffed morning crossing on a four-lane arterial and the absence of any organized way to walk. Families also described a stressful drop-off line and children with too few chances to move, concerns that a walking program can ease.
Program Description
The walking school bus was chosen over walk to school days, remote drop-off and classroom activity breaks because it directly answers the need for supervision and has the strongest evidence. In a pilot cluster randomized trial, children at intervention schools more than doubled their share of active trips to school within five weeks, and their daily activity rose while that of control children fell (Mendoza et al., 2011). A later year-long trial in 22 schools serving lower-income families found significant gains in both active commuting and daily activity (Johnson et al., 2024). Linden Park's version keeps the core components of those programs, adult supervision, fixed routes and times, frequent walks and a coordinator, while changing who may join, who walks with the children, which languages materials use, when routes leave and how winter is handled.
Goals and Objectives
The program's goal is that children within a mile of Linden Park walk to school safely with trusted adults on most mornings, gaining activity and easing the morning rush. Five process objectives cover 18 trained volunteers by the end of September, three routes by mid-October, at least 90% of scheduled walks run, 120 registered children including 30 in the youngest grades and a staffed morning crossing guard by mid-December. Three impact objectives set May targets for the share of students walking, parents' confidence in their child's safety and the share of parents citing traffic danger. One outcome objective sets a gain of 10 daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity for regular walkers. Activities for parents, volunteers, children and the school draw on social cognitive theory, especially the building of parents' self-efficacy through trial walks and the example of other families.
Implementation Summary
A coordinator working 10 hours a week runs daily operations, supported by the health department program lead, the principal, teachers, the nurse, the parent group, a senior center, a high school service club, the city traffic engineer and the district risk manager. A steering group meets every two weeks in the first semester. The timeline begins with planning in July, recruitment and training in August and September, trial walks in late September and a two-week pilot of one route in early October before all routes open. Safety rules include background checks for all adult volunteers, two adults on every walk, a limit of six children per adult on routes serving the youngest grades and set cancellation rules. Barriers were anticipated across the five domains of an implementation framework, with a substitute volunteer pool, a written operations manual and a winter plan among the responses.
Evaluation Plan
The evaluation is organized around RE-AIM's five questions: who the program reaches, whether it changes outcomes, which settings and staff take it on, how closely delivery follows the plan and whether it lasts (Glasgow et al., 1999). Reach will be measured as registered children divided by eligible students, reported by grade and home language, so that the team can see whether younger and Spanish-speaking children are joining. Effectiveness will be judged by the change in the classroom tally from 11% walking, by pre-post parent surveys on confidence and traffic fears and by device-measured activity in a sample of 40 children in October and April. Adoption will be judged by how many staff and partner organizations take on roles and whether the district adds the program to its wellness report. Implementation will be tracked through daily walk logs: walks run, attendance, volunteer coverage, ratios and incidents. Maintenance will be assessed at the end of the year and again after the second, when grant funding changes.
Budget Summary
First-year cash costs total $15,030: $8,630 for the coordinator, $840 for background checks, $2,150 for safety equipment, $900 for printed materials, $1,000 for pedometers, $1,110 for incentives and $400 for volunteer recognition. Funding comes from three sources: $12,000 from the city's pedestrian safety grant, $1,500 pledged by the parent group and $1,530 from the district wellness fund. In-kind resources include the program lead's time from the county health department, school staff time, route reviews by the city and about 600 volunteer hours. In year two, cash needs fall to about $11,000, since vests, radios and pedometers are already owned and fewer new volunteers need checks.
Why Sustainability Needs a Plan
Many school and community programs fade when their first grant ends, even when they work. Scheirer and Dearing (2011) treat sustainability as whether a program's parts keep being used, and keep producing results, once the start-up period is over, and they argue that it should be studied and planned as a stage of its own rather than assumed. A walking school bus is especially exposed, because its main resource is the daily goodwill of adults. To plan for sustainability in a structured way, the team will use the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool, a 40-item instrument covering eight domains of capacity, which showed strong internal consistency when tested with 592 staff from 252 public health programs (Luke et al., 2014). The team will complete the tool in January and again in May, and the lowest-scoring domains will receive the most attention.
Sustainability Strategies by Domain
For environmental support, the team will seek a line in the district wellness policy recognizing the program and will ask the city council to include the crossing guard in the regular budget. For funding stability, the plan diversifies sources: the grant in year one, a smaller renewal in year two, a request to the district to fund the coordinator as a stipend within an existing staff role by year three and an annual parent group fundraiser. The team will also ask the city to include the school's missing sidewalk blocks in its application for federal Safe Routes to School construction funds. For partnerships, memoranda of understanding with the senior center and the high school will describe volunteer roles each year. For organizational capacity, the operations manual and a second trained coordinator protect against turnover.
For program evaluation, the RE-AIM results will be shared with the district and city each summer, since evidence of reach and effectiveness makes funding requests stronger. For program adaptation, the steering group will review routes and schedules each spring and adjust them to changes in enrollment and housing. For communications, the program will publish a one-page annual report for families, staff and council members, with photographs and walking totals. For strategic planning, the steering group will keep a three-year plan that names who will hold each role and how each cost will be covered after the grant.
Conclusion
This proposal brings together a planning model assessment, a reasoned choice of an evidence-based program, a measurable design, a detailed implementation plan, an evaluation that tracks reach and delivery as well as results and a strategy to sustain the program beyond its first grant. The walking school bus asks a school community for something modest, adults willing to walk a few blocks each morning, in return for calmer mornings, safer streets and more active children. With the support requested here, Linden Park can test whether that exchange works in its neighborhood and build the evidence and partnerships to keep it going.
References
Glasgow, R. E., Vogt, T. M., & Boles, S. M. (1999). Evaluating the public health impact of health promotion interventions: The RE-AIM framework. American Journal of Public Health, 89(9), 1322-1327. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.89.9.1322
Green, L. W., & Kreuter, M. W. (2005). Health program planning: An educational and ecological approach (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Johnson, A. M., Zhou, C., Haviland, M., & Mendoza, J. A. (2024). Evaluation of a walking school bus program: A cluster randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 21, Article 55. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-024-01602-w
Kontou, E., McDonald, N. C., Brookshire, K., Pullen-Seufert, N. C., & LaJeunesse, S. (2020). U.S. active school travel in 2017: Prevalence and correlates. Preventive Medicine Reports, 17, Article 101024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.101024
Luke, D. A., Calhoun, A., Robichaux, C. B., Elliott, M. B., & Moreland-Russell, S. (2014). The Program Sustainability Assessment Tool: A new instrument for public health programs. Preventing Chronic Disease, 11, Article 130184. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.130184
Mendoza, J. A., Watson, K., Baranowski, T., Nicklas, T. A., Uscanga, D. K., & Hanfling, M. J. (2011). The walking school bus and children's physical activity: A pilot cluster randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics, 128(3), e537-e544. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-3486
Scheirer, M. A., & Dearing, J. W. (2011). An agenda for research on the sustainability of public health programs. American Journal of Public Health, 101(11), 2059-2067. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300193
The HLTH 5493 Module 5 assignment instructions
The final module of HLTH 5493 frequently asks for a complete program proposal. Instructions typically list the parts: an executive summary, the need, the program and its evidence, goals and objectives, implementation, evaluation, budget and a plan for sustaining the program once initial funding ends. The earlier modules supply most of the content, but the proposal should read as one document addressed to a decision maker or funder, not as four assignments stapled together. The sustainability plan is often the only wholly new part, and some prompts ask for a named framework. Update anything that changed as your thinking developed, and check whether your section sets a page limit or a funder's format.
How this HLTH 5493 Module 5 example is built
The paper opens with an executive summary a busy reader could stop after. A statement of need condenses the planning model findings, and the program description explains the choice and the adaptations in a paragraph. Objectives and implementation are summarized rather than repeated, with the key numbers kept. The evaluation plan gives each RE-AIM dimension a measure and a data source, and the budget summary adds second-year costs. Two sections then build the sustainability plan: one explaining why programs fade and which tool the team will use, and one working through all eight tool domains with a concrete action for each. A brief conclusion restates the exchange the program offers the school community.
Where the points sit in the HLTH 5493 Module 5 rubric
Final proposals are usually graded on completeness, coherence and persuasiveness. Rubrics tend to reward proposals that include every required section, keep numbers consistent across sections and make a clear case for why this program, in this setting, deserves support. The evaluation plan is expected to measure more than satisfaction, and the sustainability plan to go beyond hoping for future grants. Using a recognized framework for each, with specific actions, often separates high scores from average ones. Professional tone, a logical order that a funder would recognize and correct APA 7 references for the evidence behind the program finish the document.
Common HLTH 5493 Module 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
The final proposal often suffers when students paste in earlier modules, so figures disagree and the tone shifts from section to section. If you want help condensing your course work into one proposal, building an evaluation plan or writing a sustainability section that names real actions, a writer can take it on. Send your earlier modules, any feedback you received and the prompt, and a writer will turn them into a Module 5 proposal that reads as a single case for your program, keeps every number consistent and shows how the program will last. If your instructor requires a funder's template or a page limit, we will fit the proposal to it. Feedback from your earlier modules will be worked into the final version.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official American College of Education document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More HLTH 5493 and M.Ed. in Health and Wellness Education sample papers
- HLTH 5493 Module 1: Planning Model Application
- HLTH 5493 Module 2: Evidence-Based Program Selection
- HLTH 5493 Module 3: Goals, Objectives and Activities
- HLTH 5493 Module 4: Implementation Plan
- HLTH 5483 Module 2: Program Logic Model
- HLTH 5483 Module 1: Needs Assessment Report
- HLTH 5091 Module 2: Artifact and Outcome Alignment
- HLTH 5433 Module 3: Relational Leadership Analysis
HLTH 5493 Module 5 questions, answered
What does HLTH5493 Module 5 usually ask for?
HLTH5493 often ends with a complete program proposal that brings the earlier modules together and adds an evaluation plan, a budget and a plan to sustain the program after initial funding.
What goes into a health program proposal?
Typically an executive summary, statement of need, program description, goals and objectives, implementation plan, evaluation plan, budget and sustainability plan.
How do I write a sustainability plan?
Name what must continue, identify threats such as funding and staff turnover and set out specific actions, ideally organized by a tool such as the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool.
Where can I find a free HLTH 5493 Module 5 sample paper?
The complete Module 5 proposal sits on this page: the Linden Park walking program with its need, design, RE-AIM evaluation, budget and a sustainability plan built on eight domains.
Can I reuse text from earlier modules in the final proposal?
Summarize and update earlier work rather than pasting it, and check your course's policy on reusing your own writing, since some instructors require fresh wording.