Digital Commons Network^™

Greenspace Across The United States: Exploring Equity And Associations With Physical Activity, Obesity, And Health-Related Quality Of Life, Ellen W. Stowe

Theses and Dissertations

Neighborhood greenspace is important for health and well-being but may not be equitably present in neighborhoods across the United States. Also, many adults are physically inactive, have obesity, and report poor health-related quality of life. Greenspace has been tied to these health conditions, but with mixed findings. The purpose of this study was to 1) use an environmental justice perspective to examine variations in 11 measures of greenspace by neighborhood race/ethnicity, income, and rurality in block groups across the contiguous United States and 2) examine 11 greenspace measures in connection to physical activity, obesity, and health-related quality of life in …

Racism Across The American South: The Association Between Racism On Twitter, Rurality, & Black Mortality, Jarrod Bullard

Theses and Dissertations

Racism can be understood as a system of dominance and power designed to uphold the racially privileged of society. One can be exposed to racism through various mechanisms including the Internet and social media. Evidence indicates that exposure to racism is associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes as well as unhealthy behaviors. Current literature studying the effects of racism focus primarily on experienced or perceived racism. Furthermore, the geographic influence of racism on health at the county level and across levels of rurality is currently unknown. The purpose of this study was twofold; 1.) To explore the geographic …

Framing Risk, Responsibility, And Resolution: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Traditional And Social Media Coverage Of The 2014 Elk River Chemical Spill, Tracey Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The 2014 Elk River Chemical Spill raised policy questions concerning chemical safety and revealed an immediate need for improved emergency communication. This two-phase study explored how media presented causes of and longterm solutions to the spill through an examination of media frames. The study also explored how health risks were communicated through traditional and social media. The specific aims of Phase I were to examine media coverage in the days following the spill and compare coverage across media channels. The specific aims of Phase II were to understand how public health stakeholders perceived coverage of the spill and how …

Ecpat: Development And Testing Of Mobile Technology To Engage Youth In Active Living Policy, Systems, And Environmental Health Promotion Efforts, Gina M. Besenyi

Theses and Dissertations

Modifying the built environment is a promising way to promote youth physical activity and reduce obesity. Parks, in particular, are key intervention venues given their low cost and legislated ubiquity. Creating healthy communities, including better parks, will require the interest and participation of multiple constituencies, including youth. Creation of mobile technology environmental audit tools can provide a more interactive way for youth to engage with communities and facilitate participation in participatory action research (PAR) and health promotion efforts.

The purpose of the first study was to describe the development and validity and reliability testing of an electronic version of the …

Soil Arsenic And Lead Concentrations And Preterm Birth: Investigating Racial Disparities, Sources, Neighborhood Effects, And Spatial Patterns, Pamela Harley Thornton Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Preterm birth, generally defined as birth at <37 weeks of gestation, is an important public health issue that has multiple risk factors related to characteristics of both the mother and her environment. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine potential sources of spatially interpolated (kriged) environmental concentrations of arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) in residential soils and preterm birth in a Medicaid population of mothers giving birth in South Carolina (SC) from 1996-2001. The first objective was to investigate if a racial disparity existed for estimated soil As and Pb concentrations, after adjusting for proximal and distal sources of these metals (including distance and direction to industrial facilities) in a subset of SC Medicaid mothers living in areas of SC where soil samples were collected and analyzed for these metals. The second objective was to test the hypothesis that estimated soil As and Pb concentrations were associated with increased odds of early (<34 weeks) and late (34-36 weeks) preterm births in the same subset of SC Medicaid mothers, after adjusting for individual and neighborhood level risk factors, and examine if measure of neighborhood deprivation and racial residential segregation modified these associations. The third objective was to examine if early and all preterm births, aggregated at the county level, varied spatially and/or temporally in SC for all Medicaid mothers giving birth from 1996-2001 in Bayesian models.

For the first objective, black mothers had significantly higher estimated As and Pb soil concentrations than white mothers in the study population (adjusted betas were 0.12 and 0.22 for As and Pb, respectively; all p<0.006), and proximal sources of metals (e.g., percent of Census block group are covered by roads) were more strongly associated with estimated soil As and Pb concentrations than composite As and Pb releases from industrial facilities categorized by distance from and direction to Census block groups in which maternal residences were located.

For the second objective, estimated soil concentration of neither As nor Pb were associated with increased odds of early or late preterm birth after adjusting for maternal and neighborhood level risk factors. Only individual level covariates were associated with these birth outcomes, and associations were stronger for early as compared to late preterm births. Neighborhood deprivation and racial …

Elucidating Perceived And Actual Cancer Risk In Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Differentially Impacted By Environmental Hazards To Inform Future Public Health Interventions, Lashanta J. Rice

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, racial and ethnic minorities, economically disadvantaged and medically underserved groups bear a disproportionate amount of the cancer burden. Myriad social and environmental factors attribute to these disparities including disparate exposures to environmental pollutants, which account for two percent of all cancer deaths nationally. There is empirical evidence demonstrating risk perceptions and cancer worry are shaped by race/ethnicity and social and environmental experiences. Cancer risk perceptions among Non-Whites, especially Blacks compared to Whites is lower for various reasons. Low perceived cancer risk may explain persistent cancer disparities, since protective health behaviors are higher among persons who perceive …

A Qualitative Study Of An Urban Community Garden: Creating Healthier Neighborhood Environments, Lauren Workman

Theses and Dissertations

Neighborhoods influence population level health; the places where people live, work, and grow are an essential setting for health promotion interventions. In efforts to create healthier neighborhood environments, there is a movement to better understand neighborhood social characteristics. The neighborhood social environment potentially includes social relationships (including trust and cohesion), networks, norms, and the resources that may be generated from relationships. In addition, more work is needed to learn about how people may become engaged in neighborhood initiatives. Community gardens are a 1) potential strategy to promote health at community and individual levels 2) mechanism to involve community members in …