Are Your Asset Data as Good as You Think? Conducting a Comprehensive Census of Built Assets to Improve Urban Population Health

Abstract

Secondary data sources are widely used to measure the built asset environment, although their validity for this purpose is not well-established. Using community-engaged research methodology, this study conducted a census of publicfacing, built assets via direct observation and then tested the performance of these data against widely used secondary datasets. After engaging community organizations, a community education campaign was implemented. Using web-enabled cell phones and a web-based application prepopulated with the secondary data, census workers verified, modified, and/or added assets using street-level observation, supplementing data with web searches and telephone calls. Data were uploaded to http://www.SouthSideHealth.org. Using direct observation as the criterion standard, the sensitivity of secondary datasets was calculated. Of 5,773 assets on the prepopulated list, direct observation of publicfacing assets verified 1,612 as operating; another 653 operating assets were newly identified. Sensitivity of the commercial list for nonresidential, operating assets was 61 %. Using the asset census as the criterion standard, secondary datasets were incomplete and inaccurate. Comprehensive, accurate built asset data are needed to advance urban health research, inform policy, and improve individuals' access to assets.

Adult BMI and Access to Built Environment Resources in a High-Poverty, Urban Geography

“…14,15 However, a Chicago-based study found that a commonly used commercially available data set was only 60% sensitive using a direct observation criterion standard. 22 Few studies have used directly observed census data for measures of the built environment. 18,41 This is the only study that uses both directly observed census data of built resources collected contemporaneously with individual data on resource utilization and measured BMI.…”

“…22 MAPSCorps provides science, technology, engineering, and mathematics training for Chicago South Side youth who work with science-oriented college students to identify and classify every open and operating, public-facing business and organization in the region. 23 In 2012, MAPSCorps identified >8,000 assets in the study region: 153.9 assets per 10,000 population including 1.2 pharmacies, 1.2 physical activity resources, 3.7 grocers, 4.1 outpatient clinics, and 17.6 places of worship.…”

Pharmacy accessibility and cost-related underuse of prescription medications in low-income Black and Hispanic urban communities

“…9,10 Data from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) pharmacy master files for 2012 provided pharmacy location and type (e.g. retail chain, retail independent, community health center, or clinic-based) for community pharmacies located in Chicago.…”

Linking Community Resources in Diabetes Care: a Role for Technology?

“…Healthcare workers will need to embrace asset referral as a core competency, researchers and public health workers will need to design effective systems for surveying the local resource environment [13], and health IT will need to create novel strategies for integrating community resource data from the local environment into medical care workflows. These milestones are critical for the development of comprehensive programs that support healthy lifestyle choices.…”