Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning in Rural Communities

Aytur, Semra; Satinsky, Sara B.; Evenson, Kelly R.; Rodrı́guez, Daniel A.

doi:10.1097/fch.0b013e31820e0d47

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Additionally, the built environment is often seen as an amenity rather than a necessity by rural community members [93]. Therefore, strong public participation and buy-in, collaboration, and input are needed from community members and leaders, partners, and stakeholders [93][94][95], including mayors, town planners, public works departments, recreation department staff, school officials, church leaders, business owners, health care and public health professionals, architects, parents, senior citizens, and youth.…”

Section: Partnershipsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Built Environments and Active Living in Rural and Remote Areas: a Review of the Literature

et al. 2015

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Rural children and adults are more likely to have obesity than their urban counterparts even after adjustment for individual-level behaviors, suggesting that rural environments may promote obesity. The rural built environment may be an important area of research that can help us understand rural-urban disparities in obesity. The purpose of this review is to summarize the rural built environment and active living literature, and to address key issues, gaps, and observations in the field. A literature review was conducted in spring 2015 to identify research published from 2000 to 2015. Our review suggests that limited active living built environments in rural communities and unique rural barriers to physical activity may contribute to a higher prevalence of obesity compared to urban populations. More empirical research is needed to build the evidence-base for the association between rural built environments, active living, and obesity. School- and community-based policies that expand active living opportunities in rural areas should also be closely examined.

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Section: Partnershipsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Built Environments and Active Living in Rural and Remote Areas: a Review of the Literature

et al. 2015

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“…Dukeshire & Thurlow [ 38 ] reported rural communities face significant challenges in the policy arena such as: lack of understanding of the policy process; lack of community resources, education and training; and lack of access to information such as research. Further, Aytur et al [ 40 ] found public health practitioners were less involved in rural planning processes than urban ones. However, the current study suggests public health professionals and community partners are participating in the policy process as it relates to planning documents in rural settings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Built environment interventions aimed at improving physical activity levels in rural Ontario health units: a descriptive qualitative study

Coghill¹,

Valaitis

Eyles

2015

BMC Public Health

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BackgroundFew studies to date have explored the relationship between the built environment and physical activity specifically in rural settings. The Ontario Public Health Standards policies mandate that health units in Ontario address the built environment; however, it is unclear how public health practitioners are integrating the built environment into public health interventions aimed at improving physical activity in chronic disease prevention programs.MethodsThis descriptive qualitative study explored interventions that have or are being implemented which address the built environment specifically related to physical activity in rural Ontario health units, and the impact of these interventions. Data were collected through twelve in-depth semi-structured interviews with rural public health practitioners and managers representing 12 of 13 health units serving rural communities. Key themes were identified using qualitative content analysis.ResultsThemes that emerged regarding the types of interventions that health units are employing included: Engagement with policy work at a municipal level; building and working with community partners, committees and coalitions; gathering and providing evidence; developing and implementing programs; and social marketing and awareness raising. Evaluation of interventions to date has been limited.ConclusionsPublic health interventions, and their evaluations, are complex. Health units who serve large rural populations in Ontario are engaging in numerous activities to address physical activity levels. There is a need to further evaluate the impact of these interventions on population health.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1786-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…11 Interventions to improve child health that draw upon and extend community partnerships can promote healthy lifestyles and also raise awareness for health-related careers. 15 National objectives have been set for improving the health of Americans in rural communities. 13 A community-wide health and wellness coalition which spurs a coordinated effort in many different sectors (eg, health, schools, community, government) can have a transformative effort.…”

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confidence: 99%