Rural Active Living Measurement Tools

The Rural Active Living Assessment (RALA) Tools and the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS) were designed to help researchers and community members collect data on the existence and perception of physical environment features and amenities, town characteristics, community programs, and policies that could potentially influence levels of physical activity among residents living in rural communities. These tools allow for the assessment of the “friendliness” of a rural community for walking, biking, and playing.

The development of the RALA tools and RALPESS were supported through funding provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through Active Living Research (2006, 2007).

Rural Active Living Assessment (RALA) Tools

The RALA tools were designed by researchers at the Maine Rural Health Research Center, University of Southern Maine, led by Dr. David Hartley and Anush Hansen, and was tested and refined by researchers at the University of Southern Maine, Tufts University (Drs. Christina D. Economos, Raymond R. Hyatt, & Erin Hennessy), University of Alabama (Dr. M. Renée Umstattd Meyer), and University of Mississippi (Dr. Jeffrey S. Hallam).

The RALA consists of three separate assessments and a codebook with scoring:

These three assessment instruments are designed to be used together and provide a tool to conduct a comprehensive active living audit of your rural town.

Suggested Citations:

Hartley, D., Yousefian, A., Umstattd, M. R., Hallam, J., Economos, C., Hyatt, R., & Hennessy, E. (2009). Rural active living assessment (RALA) toolkit: Codebook and assessment tools. Portland, ME: University of Southern Maine, Maine Rural Health Research Center .

Yousefian A, Hennessy E., Umstattd M. R., Economos C. D., Hallam J. S., Hyatt R. R. & Hartley D. (2010). Development of the Rural Active Living Assessment tools: Measuring rural Environments. Preventive Medicine, 50: S86-S92. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2009.08.018

Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS)

The RALPESS was designed by researchers at the Universities of Alabama and Mississippi, led by Drs. M. Renée Umstattd Meyer and Jeffrey S. Hallam, and was tested and refined by researches at the University of Alabama, University of Mississippi, University of Southern Maine (Dr. David Hartley and Anush Hansen), and Tufts University (Drs. Christina D. Economos, Raymond R. Hyatt, & Erin Hennessy)

The RALPESS has been found to be a valid (face, content, and construct validity), internally consistent, and practically useful instrument to measure perceptions of rural environments in the context of physical activity. The RALPESS consists of 33 items with 7 sub-scales (factors): indoor areas, outdoor areas, town center connectivity, town center physical activity resources, school grounds, church/faith-based facilities, and areas around the home or neighborhood. As stated in the paper, “Research suggests that objective measurement only conveys partial contextual understanding of factors influencing physical activity and that perceptions could mediate relationships between objective measurement and health outcomes.” Thus, the RALPESS fills an important gap in understanding “activity-friendly” environments and communities by measuring perceptions. We recommend that both the RALA and RALPESS be used to better understand the full context of environmental influences of physical activity in rural communities.

RALPESS Instrument

Suggested Citation:

Umstattd M. R., Baller S. L., Hennessy E., Hartley D., Economos C. D., Hyatt R. R., Yousefian A., & Hallam J. S. (2012). Development of the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS). Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 9(5): 724-730. PMID 21946157 doi: https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.9.5.724

Research Resources

Research describing the development of the RALA and RALPESS:

Yousefian A., Hennessy E., Umstattd M. R., Economos C. D., Hallam J. S., Hyatt R. R., & Hartley D. (2010). Development of the Rural Active Living Assessment Tools: Measuring rural environments. Preventive Medicine, 50: S86-S92. PMID 19818362 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2009.08.018

Research using the RALA and/or RALPESS:

Kegler M. C., Gauthreaux N., Hermstad A., Arriola K. J., Mickens A., Ditzel K., Hernandez C., & Haardorfer R. (2022). Inequities in physical activity environments and leisure-time physical activity in rural communities. Preventing Chronic Disease, 19: 210417. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd19.210417

Haslam A., Taniguchi T., Love C., Jacob T., Cannady T. K., Standridge J., Grammar M., Fox J., Spiegel J., Crain T., & Jernigan V.B.B. (2021). Perceived environments and physical activity among American Indian adults living in Oklahoma: The THRIVE Study. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action 15(3), 285-296. doi:10.1353/cpr.2021.0032

Dalstrom M., Guth B., Lizer C., Zimmermann K., & Khare M. (2021). Supporting rural wellness intervention through assessing and mapping rural physical activity environments. Preventive Medicine Reports, 24: 101567. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101567

McCormack L. A., Meendering J. R., Burdette L., Prosch N., Moore L., & Stluka S. (2021). Quantifying the food and physical activity environments in rural, high obesity communities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(24): 13344. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413344

Nolan R., Agley J., Umstattd Meyer M. R., Spicer P., & Hallam J. S. (2019). Continued development of the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS): Preliminary evidence for validity among American Indians. Rural Remote Health, 19(2): 5200. doi: https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH5200

Hafoka, S. F. (2017). Assessing the active living environment in three rural towns with a high proportion of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. Health Promotion Perspectives, 7(3): 134-139. doi: 10.15171/hpp.2017.25

Hege A., Christiana R. W., Battista R., & Parkhurst H. (2017). Active living in rural Appalachia: Using the rural active living assessment (RALA) tools to explore environmental barriers. Preventive Medicine Reports, 8: 261-266. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2017.11.007

Perry C. K., Nagel C., Ko L. K., Duggan C., Linde S., Rodriguez E. A., & Thompson B. (2015). Active living environment assessments in four rural Latino communities. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2: 818-823. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2015.09.001

Robinson J. C., Carson T. L., Johnson E. R., Hardy C. M., Shikany J. M., Green E., Willis L. M., Marron J. V., Li Y., Lee C. H., & Baskin M. L. (2014). Assessing environmental support for better health: Active living opportunity audits in rural communities in the southern United States. Preventive Medicine, 66: 28-33. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.05.021