Rural Food and Physical Activity Assessment Using an Electronic Tablet-Based Application, New York, 2013–2014

Abstract

IntroductionA community’s built environment can influence health behaviors. Rural populations experience significant health disparities, yet built environment studies in these settings are limited. We used an electronic tablet-based community assessment tool to conduct built environment audits in rural settings. The primary objective of this qualitative study was to evaluate the usefulness of the tool in identifying barriers and facilitators to healthy eating and active living. The second objective was to understand resident perspectives on community features and opportunities for improvement.MethodsParticipants were recruited from 4 rural communities in New York State. Using the tool, participants completed 2 audits, which consisted of taking pictures and recording audio narratives about community features perceived as assets or barriers to healthy eating and active living. Follow-up focus groups explored the audit experience, data captured, and opportunities for change.ResultsTwenty-four adults (mean age, 69.4 y [standard deviation, 13.2 y]), 6 per community, participated in the study. The most frequently captured features related to active living were related to roads, sidewalks, and walkable destinations. Restaurants, nontraditional food stores, and supermarkets were identified in the food environment in relation to the cost, quality, and selection of healthy foods available. In general, participants found the assessment tool to be simple and enjoyable to use.ConclusionAn electronic tablet–based tool can be used to assess rural food and physical activity environments and may be useful in identifying and prioritizing resident-led change initiatives. This resident-led assessment approach may also be helpful for informing and evaluating rural community-based interventions.

Harnessing Technology and Citizen Science to Support Neighborhoods that Promote Active Living in Mexico

“…This approach previously has been successfully pilot tested in diverse locations in the USA, including in lowincome Latino neighborhoods. [20][21][22][23][24] However, it has never been pilot tested in a lowor middle-income country such as Mexico. Low-and middle-income countries are high priorities for physical activity promotion because of increasing levels of physical inactivity, obesity, and the high burden of chronic diseases.…”

“…The target sample size was 30 adults aged 45 years and older (8 to 11 per census tract) to achieve saturation of the neighborhood information provided, as seen in US-based studies. [20][21][22][23][24] In these latter studies, it was found that Bsaturation^in relation to basic neighborhood environment issues being identified could be achieved with approximately 8-10 residents from a neighborhood. We also aimed to include a smaller total sample of 10 adolescents ages 11 to 14 years (4 to 5 adolescents per census tract) to complement the information obtained from the adults.…”

“…3,26 Procedures The Our Voice citizen science approach has been described previously. [20][21][22][23][24]29 Briefly, this community-engaged and participatory approach is driven by residents, who utilize a GPS-enabled electronic tablet-based application (the Discovery Tool) with simple audio-based instructions to take photographs and record audio narratives of facets of their neighborhood that promote or hinder active living. The tool also uses GPS to map the walking routes taken by the citizen scientists and geocode their pictures and audio recordings.…”

“…One such approach involves neighborhood residents acting as Bcitizen scientists^to systematically gather information on the barriers and facilitators of physical activity in their neighborhoods and then use their data to collectively advocate for local environmental-and policy-level changes to support active living. This approach, referred to as BOur Voice,^has been shown to be acceptable and feasible in several locales in the USA, [20][21][22][23][24] including in a low-income largely Latino neighborhood in northern California. 20 The benefit of BOur Voice^is the ability to identify strategies that are successful for promoting physical activity in specific environments that take into account existing resources and constraints, and local physical, socioeconomic, and sociocultural characteristics of both the environment and the population.…”

“…The Nuestra Voz (Our Voice) Mexico study builds on previous pilot studies using a citizen scientist engagement approach and a simple e-tablet application (the Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool) to crowd source information on barriers to and facilitators of physical activity that are potentially modifiable and realistic given local resources, priorities, and values. [20][21][22][23][24] …”