Rural Active Living Assessment (RALA) Tools

The RALA tool assesses the physical environment features and amenities, town characteristics, community programs, and policies that can affect physical activity among residents in rural communities. This tool is suitable for both practitioners and researchers. The tools include a RALA Codebook that provides users with a practical and simple guide for implementing the tool in rural communities across the United States.

This tool will help achieve the goal of the following objectives

Less Contamination
Less Emissions
Less Traffic Noise
Connectivity and Inclusion
Healthy Destinations
Less Traffic Violence
Active Transportation
Green Space

Estimation Technique

The RALA tool estimates physical activity using a variety of data sources, including the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), and the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). These data sources provide information on the types of activities people engage in, how often they engage in these activities, and how long they spend doing them. The RALA tool then uses this information to estimate the number of calories that people burn through physical activity.