Architectural features that facilitate direct, in-person interactions may be beneficial for Hispanic elders' mental health.
BackgroundResearch on neighborhood effects increasingly includes the influences of the built environment on health and social well-being.ObjectivesIn this population-based study in a low-socioeconomic-status (SES), Hispanic neighborhood, we examined whether architectural features of the built environment theorized to promote direct observations and interactions (e.g., porches, stoops) predicted Hispanic elders’ social support and psychological and physical functioning.MethodsWe coded built-environment features for all 3,857 lots in the 403-block area of an urban Miami, Florida, community. We then conducted three annual assessments of social support, psychological distress, and physical functioning in a population-based sample of 273 low-SES Hispanic elders (70–100 years of age). We used structural equation modeling analytic techniques to examine hypothesized relationships between the built environment and elders’ social support, psychological distress, and physical functioning over a 3-year period.ResultsAfter controlling for age, sex, and income, architectural features of the built environment theorized to facilitate visual and social contact had a significant direct relationship with elders’ physical functioning as measured 3 years later, and an indirect relationship through social support and psychological distress. Further binomial regression analyses suggested that elders living on blocks marked by low levels of positive front entrance features were 2.7 times as likely to have subsequent poor levels of physical functioning, compared with elders living on blocks with a greater number of positive front entrance features [b = 0.99; χ2 (1 df) = 3.71; p = 0.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.0–7.3].ConclusionsArchitectural features that facilitate visual and social contacts may be a protective factor for elders’ physical functioning.
To determine effective relationships between the built environment and health and well-being, a transdisciplinary team of architectural, behavioral and health scientists developed a built environment coding system (UMBECS). They examined the relationship of resulting streetscape features to health and well-being at the block level. The research team conducted studies of the validity of UMBECS focusing on children through school conduct and grades, and on elders through a longitudinal cognitive functioning study. For children, contrary to popularly held views, commercial-residential mix was as effective as a high proportion of residential use in predicting children's school outcomes (i.e., better conduct, achievement, effort, and grades). For elders, modest but statistically significant relationships existed between block-level features, elders' neighboring behaviors, and social support, which in turn were significantly associated with cognitive and affective functioning. These findings suggest the utility of this built environment coding system for examining the relationship of built environment features to residents' health and well-being. UMBECS offers a useful tool for developing a viable transdisciplinary model of the role of the built environment in behavioral and health outcomes.
A population-based study examined the relationship between diversity of use of the built environment and teacher reports of children's grades. Diversity of use of the built environment (i.e., proportion of a block that is residential, institutional, commercial and vacant) was assessed for all 403 city blocks in East Little Havana, Miami-a Hispanic neighborhood. Cluster analysis identified three block-types, based on diversity of use: Residential, Mixed-Use, and Commercial. Cross-classified hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the impact of diversity of use, school, gender, and year-in-school on academic and conduct grades for 2857 public school children who lived in these blocks. Contrary to popular belief, mixed-use blocks were associated with optimal outcomes. Specifically, follow-up analyses found that a youth living on a residential block had a 74% greater odds of being in the lowest 10% of conduct grades (conduct GPA <2.17) than a youth living on a mixed-use block. In fact, an analysis of the population attributable fraction suggests that if the risk associated with residential blocks could be reduced to the level of risk associated with mixed-use blocks, a 38% reduction in Conduct GPAs <2.17 could be achieved in the total population. These findings suggest that public policy targeting the built environment may be a mechanism for community-based interventions to enhance children's classroom conduct, and potentially related sequelae.
Displacement and dislocation from homes disrupt fundamental social processes necessary for optimal community functioning. Neighborhood and community social capital, collective efficacy and place attachment are social processes that may be compromised following disaster, conflict, and upheaval. A collaborative approach to the preplanning, design, and creation of temporary and transitional communities following large-scale events is discussed. When architects, planners, and behavioral and health scientists collaborate, preexisting neighborhood social processes can be preserved or even strengthened and can facilitate resilient recovery among vulnerable groups (e.g., elders, children and their care providers, the poor, and underserved minorities). Such a cross-disciplinary, eco-developmental approach should result in more healthful, sustainable, and culturally appropriate individual and community level outcomes for vulnerable subgroups. Observations from housing accommodations following Hurricane Katrina are used to inform future efforts to rebuild neighborhoods following disasters.
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