Built Environment
Environmental Noise Exposure and Mental Health: Evidence From a Population-Based Longitudinal Study
Exposure to environmental noise from within homes has been associated with poor mental health. Existing evidence rests on cross-sectional studies prone to residual confounding, reverse causation, and small sample sizes, failing to adequately consider the causal nature of this relationship. Furthermore, few studies have examined the sociodemographic distribution of noise exposure at a country level.Neighborhood Environment and Metabolic Risk in Hispanics/Latinos From the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos
This study examines the associations of neighborhood environments with BMI, HbA1c, and diabetes across 6 years in Hispanic/Latino adults.The Relationship Between Environmental Exposures and Post-Stroke Physical Activity
Post-stroke physical activity has widespread health benefits. Environmental exposures may shape post-stroke physical activity behavior. This study investigates the relationships between environmental exposures and post-stroke physical activity.The Association Between Neighborhood Public Transportation Usage and Youth Physical Activity
Routine adolescent physical activity is a well-established predictor of positive health across the lifespan, although wide disparities in youth physical activity engagement persist across sex and race/ethnicity. Transportation barriers may be related to adolescents’ ability to access physical activity opportunities. This study examines the association between neighborhood public transportation usage and adolescent physical activity using a national sample.Air Quality Awareness and Behaviors of U.S. Adolescents With and Without Asthma
Among U.S. adolescents, the knowledge that air pollution can impact health is relatively high and varies by the demographics of the respondents and the places they live, but the influence of asthma status is unknown. This study assesses the role of asthma in U.S. adolescents’ awareness, perceptions, and behaviors related to air pollution.Neighborhood Green Land Cover and Neighborhood-Based Walking in U.S. Older Adults
Greenspace exposure has been associated with physical activity, but few studies have investigated its association with physical activity in the residential neighborhood. This study investigates whether greater amounts of neighborhood open space and forest are associated with neighborhood-based walking in older adults.Mobility Patterns Before, During, and Anticipated After the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Opportunity to Nurture Bicycling
The purpose of this study is to quantify the immediate and anticipated effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on local travel in the U.S.The Impact of Driving Time to Family Planning Facilities on Preventive Service Use in Ohio
Publicly funded family planning clinics provide preventive health services to low-income populations in the U.S. In recent years, several states, including Ohio, have restricted public funds for organizations that provide or refer patients to abortion care, often resulting in clinic closures. This research evaluates the effects of such closures on preventive service use and access to care among female adults in Ohio.Subway Ridership, Crowding, or Population Density: Determinants of COVID-19 Infection Rates in New York City
This study aims to determine whether subway ridership and built environmental factors, such as population density and points of interests, are linked to the per capita COVID-19 infection rate in New York City ZIP codes, after controlling for racial and socioeconomic characteristics.Long-Term Air Pollution and Blood Pressure in an African American Cohort: the Jackson Heart Study
African Americans are disproportionately affected by high blood pressure, which may be associated with exposure to air pollutants, such as fine particulate matter and ozone.Income Segregation and Access to Healthy Food
Differences in diet quality across socioeconomic groups are a key contributor to health gradient. An agent-based model was developed to explore how income segregation affects food access for poor households under idealized circumstances where the poor have the same knowledge of and preferences for healthy food as the nonpoor.Potential Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Movement Behavior: A Scoping Review
This scoping review examines the literature as it relates to autonomous vehicles and impact on movement behavior (i.e., physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep) or mode choice (e.g., public transit), beliefs about movement behavior or mode choice, or impact on environments that may influence movement behavior or mode choice.Poor Health and Violent Crime Hot Spots: Mitigating the Undesirable Co-Occurrence Through Focused Place-Based Interventions
The geographic overlap of violence and poor health is a major public health concern. To understand whether and how place-based interventions targeting micro-geographic places can reduce this undesirable co-occurrence, the study addresses 2 important questions. First, to what extent are deteriorated health conditions associated with living at violent crime hot spots? Second, through what mechanisms can focused place-based interventions break the association between living with violence and deteriorated health?Drop-And-Spin Virtual Neighborhood Auditing: Assessing Built Environment for Linkage to Health Studies
Various built environment factors might influence certain health behaviors and outcomes. Reliable, resource-efficient methods that are feasible for assessing built environment characteristics across large geographies are needed for larger, more robust studies. This paper reports the item response prevalence, reliability, and rating time of a new virtual neighborhood audit protocol, drop-and-spin auditing, developed for assessment of walkability and physical disorder characteristics across large geographic areas.Physical Activity Levels and New Public Transit: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Physical inactivity is a public health concern as it contributes to the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases. Introducing new public transportation options, such as extending or building new light rail or bus rapid transit stations, could encourage commuters to walk to and from public transit stops, thus increasing their physical activity levels. Despite previous research generally finding positive associations between public transit usage and physical activity levels, few have summarized the association between introducing new public transportation options and different intensities of physical activity.Physical Activity and Social Behaviors of Urban Children in Green Playgrounds
Nature exposure is associated with many wellbeing benefits. However, the influence of green space on the physical activity and social behaviors of children is not completely understood. The purpose of the study was to complete a stepwise impact evaluation of a large-scale playground greening project at a Title 1 elementary school in Los Angeles, California.Disparities in Preventable Hospitalizations Among Public Housing Developments
This study assesses preventable hospitalization rates among New York City residents living in public housing developments compared with all New York City residents and residents in low-income areas. Additionally, preventable hospitalization rates by development (one or multiple buildings in close proximity and served by the same management office) were determined.Geographic and Urban–Rural Differences in Walking for Leisure and Transportation
Walking can serve many purposes, such as transportation (to get some place) or leisure (for fun, relaxation, or exercise); therefore, it provides many opportunities for people to be physically active. This study examines geographic and urban–rural differences in walking in the U.S.Automated Vehicles and Pedestrian Safety: Exploring the Promise and Limits of Pedestrian Detection
U.S. pedestrian fatalities have risen recently, even as vehicles are equipped with increasingly sophisticated safety and crash avoidance technology. Many experts expect that advances in automated vehicle technology will reduce pedestrian fatalities substantially through eliminating crashes caused by human error. This paper investigates automated vehicles’ potential for reducing pedestrian fatalities by analyzing nearly 5,000 pedestrian fatalities recorded in 2015 in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, virtually reconstructing them under a hypothetical scenario that replaces involved vehicles with automated versions equipped with state-of-the-art (as of December 2017) sensor technology.Reassessing Urban Health Interventions: Back to the Future with Google Street View Time Machine
Validity of research linking built environments to health relies on the availability and reliability of data used to measure exposures. As cities transform, it is important to track when and where urban changes occur, to provide detailed information for urban health intervention research. This paper presents an online observation method of the implementation of traffic-calming features using Google Street View Time Machine. The method is used to validate an existing administrative database detailing the implementation of curb extensions and speed bumps.Transportation and Leisure Walking Among U.S. Adults: Trends in Reported Prevalence and Volume, National Health Interview Survey 2005–2015
Promotion of walking is a promising strategy for increasing physical activity levels in the U.S. The proportion of adults who report walking for either transportation or leisure has increased in recent years, but evidence on trends in walking for specific purposes is limited.Policy Pathways to Address Provider Workforce Barriers to Buprenorphine Treatment
At least 2.3 million people in the U.S. have an opioid use disorder, less than 40% of whom receive evidence-based treatment. Buprenorphine used as part of medication-assisted treatment has high potential to address this gap because of its approval for use in non-specialty outpatient settings, effectiveness at promoting abstinence, and cost effectiveness. However, less than 4% of licensed physicians are approved to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, and approximately 47% of counties lack a buprenorphine-waivered physician.Social Work Student and Practitioner Roles in Integrated Care Settings
Social workers are increasingly being deployed in integrated medical and behavioral healthcare settings but information about the roles they fill in these settings is not well understood. This study sought to identify the functions that social workers perform in integrated settings and identify where they acquired the necessary skills to perform them.Peer Workers in the Behavioral and Integrated Health Workforce: Opportunities and Future Directions
The growth of the peer workforce in behavioral health services is bringing opportunities to organizations and institutions that serve people living with mental and substance use disorders and their families. Peer workers are defined as people in recovery from mental illness or substance use disorders or both that possess specific peer support competencies. Similar roles are identified for families of people in recovery. Peer support has been implemented in a vast range of behavioral health services, including in the relatively new use of peer support in criminal justice and emergency service environments.Proximity to Liquor Stores and Adolescent Alcohol Intake: A Prospective Study
Cross-sectional studies have reported associations between liquor store availability and alcohol use among adolescents, but few prospective studies have confirmed this association. The aim of this study was to examine whether proximity to liquor stores at age 14 years was associated with alcohol intake at ages 14, 17, and 20 years.
