Beat the Street, run by Intelligent Health, is a six-week game that aims to transform public health and place at scale. ARU was part of a consortium that brought Beat the Street to Chelmsford and South Woodham Ferrers for six weeks, and is evaluating the data collected in order to inform future local planning of community and physical activity initiatives.
Beat the Street is a transformational tool to improve public health and place at scale. Participants scan a card or their phone at 'Beat Boxes' distributed at strategic points in their local area to log the distance they've walked, run, cycled, or rolled, for the chance to win prizes. This enables adults and children to connect to their community, empowering small changes to daily behaviours.
The founder of Intelligent Health, Dr William Bird MBE, is currently the Chair of Active Essex, and regularly advocates for physical activity at the heart of lifestyle and wellbeing improvements in the community. The game aims to address the challenges posed by ill health, inequalities and climate change to local communities.
Beat the Street ran in Chelmsford and South Woodham Ferrers from 28 February to 10 April 2024. A multi-agency steering group covering the health, transport, education, culture and leisure sectors came together to ensure that local community assets, groups and activities were highlighted and used. ARU was part of this group, alongside other stakeholders including Essex County Council, Chelmsford City Council, Active Essex and the National Lottery via Sport England.
Over the six-week challenge, more than 13,000 people travelled over 106,000 miles, with 2% and 6% reduction in less active children and adults respectively, 7% increase in children walking for fun for seven days a week, and a 15% reduction in sitting time in adults from mid-high deprivation areas.
More widely, to date, Beat the Street has worked directly with 168 communities and engaged nearly two million players to increase their activity levels.
Beyond facilitating the game, the data collected can be analysed and evaluated by stakeholders, helping them build sustainable and transformative practices in areas that are particularly deprived and inactive, and therefore reduce inequality and improve health and wellbeing. The intervention beyond the game itself lasts for a full 12 months, during which time stakeholders are map activities and develop a programme that builds on its work.
ARU is looking to use the data collected by Intelligent Health through its civic work with its community partners, and through the work of its new Health and Care Research Centre. This will include working on the wider data collected across the county of Essex, as well some nationwide evaluation.
Beat the Street is congruent with the Government's three key areas for healthcare reform: the transition to a digital NHS, moving more care from hospitals to communities, and focusing efforts on prevention over sickness.