URBAN HEALTH: Evidence, Challenges, and Directions

Galea, Sandro; Vlahov, David

doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144708

Cited by 384 publications

(292 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…Urban-rural disparities are a major field of study in public health, in both the developed and developing worlds, and studies have reported both positive and negative health outcomes with urban living (Galea & Vlahov, 2005;McDade & Adair, 2001;Sobngwi, Mbanya, Unwin, Porcher, Kengne, Fezeu et al, 2004;Torun, Stein, Schroeder, Grajeda, Conlisk, Rodriguez et al, 2002;Verheij, 1996). In these analyses we utilize a multidimensional measure designed specifically for the CHNS to capture urbanization from the physical, social, cultural, and economic environments (Mendez & Popkin, 2005).…”

Section: Community Level Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

China's transition: The effect of rapid urbanization on adult occupational physical activity

Monda

Gordon‐Larsen

Stevens

et al. 2007

Social Science & Medicine

213

185

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China has recently undergone rapid social and economic change. Increases in urbanization have led to equally rapid shifts toward more sedentary occupations through the acquisition of new technology and transitions away from a mostly agricultural economy. Our purpose was to utilize a detailed measure of urbanicity comprising 10 dimensions of urban services and infrastructure to examine its effects on the occupational physical activity patterns of Chinese adults. Longitudinal data were from individuals aged 18-55 from the years 1991-1997 of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (N=4376 men and 4384 women). Logistic multilevel regression analyses indicated that men had 68% greater odds, and women had 51% greater odds, of light versus heavy occupational activity given the mean change in urbanization over the 6-year period. Further, simulations showed that light occupational activity increased linearly with increasing urbanization. After controlling for individual-level predictors, community-level urbanization explained 54% and 40% of the variance in occupational activity for men and women, respectively. This study provides empirical evidence of the reduction in intensity of occupational activity with modernization. It is likely that urbanization will continue unabated in China and this is liable to lead to further transitions in the labor market resulting in additional reductions in work-related activity. Because occupational activity remains the major source of energy expenditure for adults, unless alternative forms are widely adopted, the Chinese population is at risk of dramatic increases in the numbers of overweight and obese individuals.

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Section: Community Level Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

China's transition: The effect of rapid urbanization on adult occupational physical activity

Monda

Gordon‐Larsen

Stevens

et al. 2007

Social Science & Medicine

213

185

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“…[4][5][6][7] In addition, in the United States, the rural health disparity has been a recent focus of attention and made a priority for improvement, 8 while urban health is an emerging discipline. 9 Concomitantly with these areas of research interest and activity, it is likely that Bexposure[ to urban and rural living will be increasingly studied. The need to describe areas as urban or rural for research purposes is not unique to epidemiology, and as such, definitions have been developed and used by economists, demographers, and political scientists for many years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specification of the research question may be especially difficult in urban health due to the complexities of studying confluent interdependent factors in a field marked by interdisciplinary approaches. 9 In addition, as a community-level characteristic, the measurement of urban or rural may require investigators to employ multilevel/hierarchical modeling methods to correct for the lack of independence of the individual outcomes (if the study is not already ecologic in nature). These methods are well-described elsewhere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining Urban and Rural Areas in U.S. Epidemiologic Studies

Hall

Kaufman²,

Ricketts³

2006

J Urban Health

325

280

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Among epidemiologists, there has been increasing interest in the characteristics of communities that influence health. In the United States, the rural health disparity has been a recent focus of attention and made a priority for improvement. While many standardized definitions of urban and rural exist and are used by social scientists and demographers, they are found in sources unfamiliar to health researchers and have largely not been used in public health studies. This paper briefly reviews some available definitions of urban and rural for American geographic subunits and their respective strengths and weaknesses. For example, some definitions are better suited than others for capturing access to health care services. The authors applied different definitions to breast cancer incidence rates to show how urban/rural rate ratio comparisons would vary by choice of definition and found that dichotomous definitions may fail to capture variability in very rural areas. Further study of the utility of these measures in health studies is warranted.

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“…[1][2][3][4] There is growing evidence, for example, that residents of high poverty, urban communities are disproportionately exposed to hazards in the physical environment such as airborne particulate matter, materials dumped illegally, and poor housing [1][2][3][4] and to hazards in the social environment such as financial strain, discrimination, social disorganization and racism. [3][4][5] These hazards contribute to the increasing gap in health status between rich and poor, white and nonwhite and urban and nonurban. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] In order to address these social, physical and economic determinants of urban health, researchers, public health practitioners, and community members have turned to more comprehensive and participatory approaches to research and interventions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and Facilitating Factors in Sustaining Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships: Lessons Learned from the Detroit, New York City and Seattle Urban Research Centers

et al. 2006

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In order to address the social, physical and economic determinants of urban health, researchers, public health practitioners, and community members have turned to more comprehensive and participatory approaches to research and interventions. One such approach, community-based participatory research (CBPR) in public health, has received considerable attention over the past decade, and numerous publications have described theoretical underpinnings, values, principles and practice. Issues related to the long-term sustainability of partnerships and activities have received limited attention. The purpose of this article is to examine the experiences and lessons learned from three Urban Research Centers (URCs) in Detroit, New York City, and Seattle, which were initially established in 1995 with core support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The experience of these Centers after core funding ceased in 2003 provides a case study to identify the challenges and facilitating factors for sustaining partnerships. We examine three broad dimensions of CBPR partnerships that we consider important for sustainability: (1) sustaining relationships and commitments among the partners involved; (2) sustaining the knowledge, capacity and values generated from the partnership; and (3) sustaining funding, staff, programs, policy changes and the partnership itself. We discuss the challenges faced by the URCs in sustaining these dimensions and the strategies used to overcome these challenges. Based on these experiences, we offer recommendations for: strategies that partnerships may find useful in sustaining their CBPR efforts; ways in which a Center mechanism can be useful for promoting sustainability; and considerations for funders of CBPR to increase sustainability.Israel, Lichtenstein, and McGranaghan are with the

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URBAN HEALTH: Evidence, Challenges, and Directions

Cited by 384 publications

References 111 publications

China's transition: The effect of rapid urbanization on adult occupational physical activity

China's transition: The effect of rapid urbanization on adult occupational physical activity

Defining Urban and Rural Areas in U.S. Epidemiologic Studies

Challenges and Facilitating Factors in Sustaining Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships: Lessons Learned from the Detroit, New York City and Seattle Urban Research Centers

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