Assessing environmental support for better health: Active living opportunity audits in rural communities in the southern United States

Robinson, J.C.; Carson, Tiffany L.; Johnson, Erica R.; Hardy, Claudia M.; Shikany, James M.; Green, Eva G. T.; Willis, Lillie M.; Marron, John; Li, Yufeng; Lee, Choo Hyung; Baskin, Monica L.

doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.05.021

Cited by 31 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Recent analysis of national data from 2000 has shown that rural census tracts, relative to metropolitan ones, have less high-intensity development, developed open spaces (e.g., parks, trails), intersection density, and street segment density, and have longer median block lengths; all suggesting lower walkability in rural areas. 40 Additionally, rural roads are structurally designed to facilitate higher speed traffic and rarely provide bike lines, sidewalks, footpaths, or shoulders; 62,63 however, the relationship between sidewalks and activity in rural areas is mixed and may not be as critical in rural areas. 35,64 Recent work in rural Georgia is helping to define rural walkability and it appears that sidewalks and utilitarian destinations often important for urban walkability are not as critical for rural walkability.…”

Section: Behavior Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…is important. 62,64 Future research is needed to better understand the use and role of joint-use agreements in rural settings. 64,119 Many rural municipalities have the same tools and authority as urban municipalities to implement zoning, development, and planning policies and processes, supporting similar approaches, correlates, and determinants in both urban and rural settings.…”

Section: Policy Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Rural Active Living: A Call to Action

Meyer

Moore

Abildso

et al. 2016

Journal of Public Health Management and Practice

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rural residents are less physically active than their urban counterparts and disproportionately affected by chronic diseases and conditions associated with insufficient activity. While the ecological model has been successful in promoting and translating active living research in urban settings, relatively little research has been conducted in rural settings. The resulting research gap prohibits a comprehensive understanding and application of solutions for active living in rural America. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to assess the evidence-base for an ecological model of active living for rural populations and outline key scientific gaps that inhibit the development and application of solutions. Specifically, we reexamined the four domains conceptualized by the model and suggest there is a dearth of research specific to rural communities across all areas of the framework. Considering the limited rural-specific efforts, we propose areas that need addressing in order to mobilize rural active living researchers and practitioners into action.

show abstract

Section: Behavior Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Policy Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural Active Living: A Call to Action

Meyer

Moore

Abildso

et al. 2016

Journal of Public Health Management and Practice

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Opportunities for physical activity are widely available throughout this poor, rural county: more than in other studies of similar rural southern places [16, 18]. Though most (1105) are private spaces, we identified 197 photos showing public activity spaces (just under one every two square miles).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conversely, the prevalence of fast food restaurants is an independent risk factor for state and community obesity rates [15]. Overall, rural areas often present physical barriers to physical activity and other health behaviors [16]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The unbuilt environment: culture moderates the built environment for physical activity

Perrin¹,

Caren²,

Skinner

et al. 2016

BMC Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundWhile research has demonstrated a link between the built environment and obesity, much variation remains unexplained. Physical features are necessary, but not sufficient, for physical activity: residents must choose to use these features in health-promoting ways. This article reveals a role for local culture in tempering the effect of the physical environment on physical activity behaviors.MethodsWe developed Systematic Cultural Observation (SCO) to observe place-based, health-related culture in Lenoir County, NC (population ~60,000). Photographs (N = 6450) were taken systematically from 150 most-used road segments and geocoded. Coders assessed physical activity (PA) opportunities (e.g., public or private activity spaces, pedestrian-friendly features) and presence of people in each photograph.Results28.7% of photographs contained some PA feature. Most were private or pedestrian; 3.1% contained public PA space. Only 1.5% of photographs with any PA features (2% of those with public PA space, 0.7% of those with private) depicted people despite appropriate weather and daylight conditions.ConclusionsEven when PA opportunities existed in this rural county, they were rarely used. This may be the result of culture (“unbuilt environment”) that disfavors physical activity even in the presence of features that allow it. Policies promoting built environments designed for healthy lifestyles should consider local culture (shared styles, skills, habits, and beliefs) to maximize positive outcomes.

show abstract

“…However, existing rural assessment tools have focused solely on individual street segments (Yousefian et al, 2010, Evenson et al, 2009, Fisher et al, 2010, Scanlin et al, 2014) and require multiple, time-intensive assessments to sufficiently capture the dispersed characteristics of rural communities (Robinson et al, 2014). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and testing of a community audit tool to assess rural built environments: Inventories for Community Health Assessment in Rural Towns

Seguin

Sriram

et al. 2017

Preventive Medicine Reports

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rural populations face unique challenges to physical activity that are largely driven by environmental conditions. However, research on rural built environments and physical activity is limited by a paucity of rural-specific environmental assessment tools. The aim of this paper is to describe the development and testing of a rural assessment tool: Inventories for Community Health Assessment in Rural Towns (iCHART). The iCHART tool was developed in 2013 through a multistep process consisting of an extensive literature search to identify existing tools, an expert panel review, and pilot testing in five rural US communities. Tool items represent rural built environment features that influence active living and physical activity: community design, transportation infrastructure, safety, aesthetics, and recreational facilities. To assess reliability, field testing was performed in 26 rural communities across five states between July and November of 2014. Reliability between the research team and community testers was high among all testing communities (average percent agreement = 77%). Agreement was also high for intra-rater reliability (average kappa = 0.72) and inter-rater reliability (average percent agreement = 84%) among community testers. Findings suggest that the iCHART tool provides a reliable assessment of rural built environment features and can be used to inform the development of contextually-appropriate physical activity opportunities in rural communities.

show abstract

Assessing environmental support for better health: Active living opportunity audits in rural communities in the southern United States

Cited by 31 publications

References 44 publications

Rural Active Living: A Call to Action

Rural Active Living: A Call to Action

The unbuilt environment: culture moderates the built environment for physical activity

Development and testing of a community audit tool to assess rural built environments: Inventories for Community Health Assessment in Rural Towns

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About