Public Health Science Academy 2022

What is the built environment?

"The built environment includes the physical makeup of where we live, learn, work, and play—our homes, schools, businesses, streets and sidewalks, open spaces, and transportation options. The built environment can influence overall community health and individual behaviors such as physical activity and healthy eating."

How is it related to equity?

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH): Interventions & Resources  (Healthy People 2020)

Produced by: US Dept. of Health and Human Services
About: Provides literature summaries for the SDOH

Below are the topics covered under the "Built Environment" domain:

• Access to Foods that Support Healthy Eating Patterns
  • Find out how access to foods that support healthy eating patterns can affect health outcomes and health disparities.
• Access to Health Services
  • Find out how access to health services can affect health outcomes and health disparities.
• Crime and Violence
  • Find out how crime and violence can affect health outcomes and health disparities.
• Enrollment in Higher Education
  • Find out how enrollment in higher education can affect health outcomes and health disparities.
• Environmental Conditions
  • Find out how environmental conditions can affect health outcomes and health disparities.
• Quality of Housing
  • Find out how quality of housing can affect health outcomes and health disparities.
• Social Cohesion
  • Find out how social cohesion can affect health outcomes and health disparities.

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Neighborhood and Built Environment (Healthy People 2030)

Produced by: US Dept. of Health and Human Services
About: Describes the HP 2030 goals for this category

• Overview and Objectives
• Evidence-based Resources
  • Interventions to Reduce Ambient Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Their Effect on Health
  • Community Water Fluoridation
  • Preventing Tooth Decay
  • Community Health and Economic Prosperity Engaging Businesses as Stewards and Stakeholders—A Report of the Surgeon General
  • Physical Activity: Built Environment Approaches Combining Transportation System Interventions with Land Use and Environmental Design

HSLS LibGuide: Social & Behavioral Determinants of Health

• This LibGuide is part of a larger collection of resources that provide access to publicly available data on a variety of health and health-related topics. 
• Learn more about the determinants of health on the 1st page, then use the other resources to examine data related to each topic.

Online books

• Korfmacher, Katrina Smith. Bridging Silos: Collaborating for Environmental Health and Justice in Urban Communities. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2019. 
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering et al. Advancing Obesity Solutions Through Investments in the Built Environment: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press, 2018. Web. (Free online)
• Visvizi, Anna, and Miltiadis Lytras. Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research: Rethinking. MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2020. Web. (Free online)
• Lopez, Russell P. The Built Environment and Public Health. New York, NY: WILEY, 2011.
• Jackson, Richard, Stacy. Sinclair, and Anthony. Iton. Designing Healthy Communities. 1st ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2012.
• Krumholz, Norman, and Kathryn Wertheim Hexter. Advancing Equity Planning Now. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2019. (Free online)

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Online book chapters

• Riggs, William, and Ruth L Steiner. “The Built Environment and Walking.” Walking. Vol. 9. Emerald Publishing Limited, 2017. 139–165. Web.
• Sherlaw, William et al. “Improving Health and Tackling Health Inequities Through the Non-Health Sector.” Principles and Concepts of Behavioral Medicine. New York, NY: Springer New York, 2018. 415–469. Web.
• Attaianese, Erminia. “Increasing Sustainability by Improving Full Use of Public Space: Human Centred Design for Easy-to-Walk Built Environment.” Advances in Ergonomics in Design. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2016. 473–483. Web.
• Biloria, Nimish et al. “Urban Wellbeing in the Contemporary City.” Data-Driven Multivalence in the Built Environment. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2019. 317–335. Web.
• Frasso, Rosemary, Shimrit Keddem, and Jesse M. Golinkoff. “Qualitative Methods: Tools for Understanding and Engaging Communities.” Handbook of Community Movements and Local Organizations in the 21st Century. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018. 527–549. Web.
• Mahmood, Atiya, and Delphine Labbé. “‘An Accessible Route Is Always the Longest’: Older Adults’ Experience of Their Urban Environment Captured by User-Led Audits and Photovoice.” Aging People, Aging Places. Policy Press, 2021. Web.

What is photovoice? And why use this type of research methodology?

"Photovoice is a process by which people can identify, represent, and enhance their community through a specific photographic technique. As a practice based in the production of knowledge, photovoice has three main goals: (1) to enable people to record and reflect their community's strengths and concerns, (2) to promote critical dialogue and knowledge about important issues through large and small group discussion of photographs, and (3) to reach policymakers. Applying photovoice to public health promotion, the authors describe the methodology and analyze its value for participatory needs assessment. They discuss the development of the photovoice concept, advantages and disadvantages, key elements, participatory analysis, materials and resources, and implications for practice."

From: Wang C, Burris MA. Photovoice: concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Heal Educ Behav. 1997;24:369–87. (Open access article; no login required)

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PubMed searches for articles published in English from 2000 to 2023. 

Many of the items found in the searches below are available as open access articles including:

• Augsberger A, Toraif N, Young A, Dimitri NC, Bautista R, Pierre J, Le C, Idahor O, Jusme C, Gergen Barnett KA. COVID-19 shines a light on health inequities in communities of color: A youth-driven photovoice inquiry. J Community Psychol. 2022 Apr 20:10.1002/jcop.22866. doi: 10.1002/jcop.22866. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35441704; PMCID: PMC9088309.
• Villatte A, Piché G, Benjamin S. Perceived Support and Sense of Social Belonging in Young Adults Who Have a Parent With a Mental Illness. Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jan 13;12:793344. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.793344. PMID: 35095606; PMCID: PMC8792737.
• Cardarelli KM, Ickes M, Huntington-Moskos L, Wilmhoff C, Larck A, Pinney SM, Hahn EJ. Authentic Youth Engagement in Environmental Health Research and Advocacy. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 23;18(4):2154. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18042154. PMID: 33672107; PMCID: PMC7926324.
• Nolan JES, Coker ES, Ward BR, Williamson YA, Harley KG. "Freedom to Breathe": Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) to Investigate Air Pollution Inequities in Richmond, CA. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 11;18(2):554. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18020554. PMID: 33440892; PMCID: PMC7826540.
• Benninger E, Schmidt-Sane M, Spilsbury JC. Conceptualizing Social Determinants of Neighborhood Health through a Youth Lens. Child Indic Res. 2021;14(6):2393-2416. doi: 10.1007/s12187-021-09849-6. Epub 2021 Aug 24. PMID: 34457085; PMCID: PMC8384457.
• Abraczinskas M, Zarrett N. Youth Participatory Action Research for Health Equity: Increasing Youth Empowerment and Decreasing Physical Activity Access Inequities in Under-resourced Programs and Schools. Am J Community Psychol. 2020 Dec;66(3-4):232-243. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12433. Epub 2020 Jun 26. PMID: 32589272; PMCID: PMC7762735.
• Jelks NO, Smith-Perry DJ, Fuller CH, Stauber C. Participatory research in Northwest Atlanta's Proctor Creek Watershed: Using photovoice to explore environmental health risks at the water's edge. Health Place. 2020 Nov;66:102444. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102444. Epub 2020 Sep 30. PMID: 33010659; PMCID: PMC9138091.
• Florian J, Roy NM, Quintiliani LM, Truong V, Feng Y, Bloch PP, Russinova ZL, Lasser KE. Using Photovoice and Asset Mapping to Inform a Community-Based Diabetes Intervention, Boston, Massachusetts, 2015. Prev Chronic Dis. 2016 Aug 11;13:E107. doi: 10.5888/pcd13.160160. PMID: 27513998; PMCID: PMC4993113.
• Mmari K, Lantos H, Brahmbhatt H, Delany-Moretlwe S, Lou C, Acharya R, Sangowawa A. How adolescents perceive their communities: a qualitative study that explores the relationship between health and the physical environment. BMC Public Health. 2014 Apr 12;14:349. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-349. PMID: 24726018; PMCID: PMC4000407.

Search for photovoice and the built environment 

• This is what the search looks like:
  • photovoice[tiab] AND (buildings[tiab] OR "built environment"[tiab] OR homes[tiab] OR infrastructure[tiab] OR "open spaces"[tiab] OR parks[tiab] OR sidewalks[tiab] OR streets[tiab]) AND english[la] NOT ((africa[MESH] OR asia[MESH] OR australia[MESH] OR canada[MESH] OR central america[mesh] OR europe[MESH] OR south america[MESH]) NOT (north america[MESH:NOEXP] OR united states[MESH])) AND 2000:2023[dp]
• No population designated
• Finds approximately 45 items

Search for photovoice and disparities

• Replaced built environment terms with disparities terms
  • photovoice[tiab] AND ("Health Status Disparities"[mesh:noexp] OR "Healthcare Disparities"[mesh:noexp] OR "Social Justice"[mesh:noexp] OR Disparit*[tiab] OR Inequalities[tiab] OR Inequities[tiab] OR Social justice[tiab]) AND english[la] NOT ((africa[MESH] OR asia[MESH] OR australia[MESH] OR canada[MESH] OR central america[mesh] OR europe[MESH] OR south america[MESH]) NOT (north america[MESH:NOEXP] OR united states[MESH])) AND 2000:2023[dp]
• Finds approximately 100 items

Search for photovoice and transportation

• Replace disparities terms with transportation terms
  • photovoice[tiab] AND (Noise, Transportation[mesh:noexp] OR transportation[mesh:noexp] OR motor vehicles[mesh:noexp] OR automobiles[mesh:noexp] OR busses[tiab] OR transportation noise[tiab] OR honking[tiab] OR transportation[tiab]) AND english[la] NOT ((africa[MESH] OR asia[MESH] OR australia[MESH] OR canada[MESH] OR central america[mesh] OR europe[MESH] OR south america[MESH]) NOT (north america[MESH:NOEXP] OR united states[MESH])) AND 2000:2023[dp]
• Finds approximately 20 items

Further exploration

These searches are a little broader meaning... You will see more items that aren't what you 

Access to food AND transportation AND disparities

• Added terms for access to food at the beginning of the search:
  • (access AND (food OR fruit OR grocer* OR vegetables)) AND (Noise, Transportation[mesh:noexp] OR transportation[mesh:noexp] OR motor vehicles[mesh:noexp] OR automobiles[mesh:noexp] OR busses[tiab] OR transportation noise[tiab] OR honking[tiab] OR transportation[tiab]) AND ("Health Status Disparities"[mesh:noexp] OR "Healthcare Disparities"[mesh:noexp] OR "Social Justice"[mesh:noexp] OR Disparit*[tiab] OR Inequalities[tiab] OR Inequities[tiab] OR Social justice[tiab]) AND english[la] NOT ((africa[MESH] OR asia[MESH] OR australia[MESH] OR canada[MESH] OR central america[mesh] OR europe[MESH] OR south america[MESH]) NOT (north america[MESH:NOEXP] OR united states[MESH])) AND 2000:2023[dp]
• Finds approximately 75 items

Search for photovoice and youth

• Search for US (mostly) studies about photovoice and youth:
  • photovoice AND (youth OR adolescents OR teens) AND english[la] NOT ((africa[MESH] OR asia[MESH] OR australia[MESH] OR canada[MESH] OR central america[mesh] OR europe[MESH] OR south america[MESH]) NOT (north america[MESH:NOEXP] OR united states[MESH])) AND 2000:2023[dp]
• Almost 200 items are found

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Using "Cited by" in PubMed

If you find what looks to be a really good article (especially one that is at least 2 years old), click on the title to go into the article record. On the right side is the page navigation for the article. Click on Cited by to retrieve other articles that cited the one you like. 

For example, the article below has been cited 12 times in the PubMed database:

Mmari K, Lantos H, Brahmbhatt H, Delany-Moretlwe S, Lou C, Acharya R, Sangowawa A. How adolescents perceive their communities: a qualitative study that explores the relationship between health and the physical environment. BMC Public Health. 2014 Apr 12;14:349. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-349. PMID: 24726018; PMCID: PMC4000407.

You have to scroll down below the list of "Cited by" items to click on the link to See all "Cited by" articles.