Jenn Taylor, an associate professor in UW-La Crosse’s Recreation Management and Recreational Therapy Department who co-created Walk with an Eagle with AARP Wisconsin, recalls that when it started in 2023, she was nervous that nobody would show up. But she was delighted when 15 students and 20 older adults were there.
“I was also surprised how quickly the group gelled together,” says Taylor. “Conversations were natural, and immediately after the first walk, students couldn’t stop talking about how much they had in common with their walking partner. ”
All the participants “just really enjoy that connection,” she says. “And I definitely wasn’t prepared for how much the walkers loved coming, even though I’ve worked in the industry for years.” The walkers have ranged in age from 55 to 90; one walker just turned 91 this year.
Darrin Wasniewski, the senior associate state director of community outreach for AARP Wisconsin who collaborated with Taylor on the program, says that two or three community members typically are grouped with one college student in the walks.
“The college students have come to appreciate it just as much,” he says.
LEARNING AS YOU WALK
On the other side of the state, AARP Wisconsin hosts a twice-a-month program called Walk with a Doc in Milwaukee, with each walk led by a doctor or other medical professional. It’s affiliated with the national Walk with a Doc organization.
The Milwaukee program — one of several AARP Walk with a Doc pilot programs launched nationwide in 2022 — is year-round, except for a holiday break.
“It’s very intergenerational — we have people of all ages,” says Amber Miller, senior associate state director of community outreach for AARP Wisconsin. You don’t need to be an AARP member to join in.
“Our smallest walker, she’s 6 years old,” Miller says. “And then it’s her, her grandma and then her great-grandma.”
On the walks, the doctor or other medical professional might talk about the importance of sleep or the benefits of exercising, Miller says.