Tools: The Pedestrian and Bicycling Survey (PABS)
I’ve recently been involved creating a new survey for measuring transportation behavior, particularly walking and cycling. The Pedestrian and Bicycling Survey (PABS) is a mail out/mail back survey designed to be an inexpensive means for local governments to learn about nonmotorized transportation use in their communities. An important component of the design of the PABS […]
Tools: The National Collaborative for Childhood Obesity Research Catalog of Surveillance Systems
The National Collaborative for Childhood Obesity Research is a group spearheaded by the National Institute of Health, Centers for Disease Control, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Catalog of Surveillance Systems is a new product, also sponsored by the USDA. The catalog provides a searchable database of ongoing monitoring systems related to health. It includes both […]
Mapping Health Issues with GIS: Participatory Approaches
Participatory GIS is a growing field. For those interested in integrating participatory GIS into healthy planning, several web sites provide helpful illustrations of the potential. Public Participatory GIS based in a company called Vertices in New Brunswick, New Jersey, (http://www.ppgis.info/) provides illustrative maps on topics from bike crashes to a calculator for calories burned walking different […]
How to Learn About the Basics of Healthy Community Planning
Linking health and planning requires learning about (at least) two areas. Public health folks are often confused about planning and planners have a lot to learn about health. There are a number of useful web sites and below I list just a few free guides that can lead you through the maze. Healthy Urban […]
When in the Planning or Policy Process Does a Health Impact Assessment Fit?
Many people are interested in when to do an HIA. The simple answer is, it depends. There are a lot of different formats that may be used alone or in combination. Screening tools to see if an HIA is worth it Scoping tools to investigate the topics and dimensions worth exploring more Desktop or mini […]
Technical Resource 3: People and Participation.net (now Participation Compass)
Workshop on housing options. (Joanne Richardson in center, Ann Forsyth photographer) Expert-driven tools can be very helpful for assessing community health. However, in all but the smallest assessments, it’s important to combine such expert methods with more participatory approaches. Local people know their own communities and that local knowledge can be very helpful. They […]
Tools: Food Security Assessments
Oakland, California (Photo by Ann Forsyth) The topic of food and planning is one of great interest—particularly promoting healthy food options. Of course what people eat is a complicated result of their personal preferences, financial resources, and social context. Food availability depends on climate, the time of year, whether people grow their own food, […]
Technical Resource 2: InformeDesign
InformeDesign (http://www.informedesign.org/) is an online database of research on people and environments. With substantial funding from the American Society of Interior Designers, and based in the University of Minnesota Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel, the database emphasizes research at the building and component level. However, there is enough other work to make it worth […]
Free Articles on Health and Environments
For those not at universities, finding research on the connections between health and places can be a bit tricky. However, a growing number of online resources are meeting these needs. The entry below lists just a few of these: Several research funders provide free access to journals: Active Living Research, funded by the […]
Blogs about Health and Places
As blogs have proliferated some have begun to deal with health and places. Below I list a sampling of the range of such sites, many dealing with health issues as part of a larger interest in topics such as urban development or housing. They are in alphabetical order. City Parks Blog (http://cityparksblog.org/) is the […]