Abstract
This study examined the recruitment messages used in the Rhode Island Healthy Places by Design pilot program to address the obesity epidemic through the lens of the built environment. The Health Belief Model (HBM) was the theory used to explain how messages may be effective based on their content. In the first part of the study, fifteen symbolic messages were identified and evaluated using content analysis. In the second part, three focus groups were conducted to evaluate participants' reactions based on questions derived from the content analysis of the messages and to the messages themselves. The data collected from the content analysis of messages and the focus groups determined the HBM elements of severity and risk which are considered necessary for a health behavior change were not prominent, but self-efficacy, a component of HBM, was significant. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future construction of recruitment messages for built environments.