Costs of Summer Youth Employment to Prevent Violence: an Analysis and Implementer ’s Tool
AbstractGun homicide rates have risen 35% across the USA since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. One promising intervention to prevent violent crime is summer youth employment programs (SYEPs), which provide youth with meaningful workplace experiences, prosocial engagements, and developmental opportunities during the summer months, when many otherwise lack structure. This paper presents a cost analysis of violence prevention-focused SYEPs to help implementers understand the costs generally and in their own community contexts —to advocate for adoption and secure funding of, effectively budget for, and successfully imple...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 8, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Creation and Validation of a New Socio-built Environment Index Measure of Opioid Overdose Risk for Use in Both Non-urban and Urban Settings
AbstractA great deal of literature has examined features of the physical built environment as predictors of opioid overdose and other substance use-related outcomes. Other literature suggests that social characteristics of settings are important predictors of substance use outcomes. However, there is a dearth of literature simultaneously measuring both physical and social characteristics of settings in an effort to better predict opioid overdose. There is also a dearth of literature examining built environment as a predictor of overdose in non-urban settings. The present study presents a novel socio-built environment index...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 7, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Depression and PTSD among Houston Residents who Experienced Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19: Implications for Urban Areas Affected by Multiple Disasters
AbstractLittle is known about the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other major disasters on mental health. Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast in 2017, resulting in substantial costs, significant levels of displacement, and approximately 100 deaths, and was followed in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. We randomly sampled 1167 Houstonians from 88 designated super-neighborhoods and surveyed them about their demographics, event-specific traumas and stressors, and symptoms of current depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We estimated the prevalence of depression (5.8%) and PTSD (12.6%) more than three...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 7, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Creation and Validation of a New Socio-built Environment Index Measure of Opioid Overdose Risk for Use in Both Non-urban and Urban Settings
AbstractA great deal of literature has examined features of the physical built environment as predictors of opioid overdose and other substance use-related outcomes. Other literature suggests that social characteristics of settings are important predictors of substance use outcomes. However, there is a dearth of literature simultaneously measuring both physical and social characteristics of settings in an effort to better predict opioid overdose. There is also a dearth of literature examining built environment as a predictor of overdose in non-urban settings. The present study presents a novel socio-built environment index...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 7, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
A Canonical Correlation Analysis Study on the Association Between Neighborhood Green Space and Residents ’ Mental Health
AbstractBased on survey data conducted in Guangzhou in 2021, this study employs canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to evaluate the relationship between neighborhood green space, residents ’ green space use behavior, and their mental health. The results show that compared with the objectively measured accessibility, residents’ subjective perceived accessibility of neighborhood green space plays a greater role in promoting green space use behavior and mental health. Meanwhile, the plant diversity, safety, and the number of recreational facilities in a green space can promote the frequency of green space use, improve re...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 3, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Optimizing Sanitation Network Upgrading Projects in Slum Areas
AbstractInfrastructure upgrading projects are a key element in enhancing the livelihood of residents in slum areas. These projects face significant constructability challenges common to dense-urban construction coupled with the unique socioeconomic challenges of operating in slums. This research focuses on sanitation network upgrading projects in slum areas and proposes a novel methodology capable of (1) accounting for the unique constructability challenges for these projects, (2) accelerating the provision of sanitation services, and (3) optimizing construction decisions. The key contribution of this research to the body ...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 3, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Disdainful Hookups: a Powerful Social Determinant of Health
This study aims to identify the specific mechanisms by which the coercive dominant discourse manifests in the peer group and its consequences for adolescents. Forty-one 15- and 16-year-old female adolescents from three high schools in Barcelona participated in the study. Eight communicative discussion groups were conducted to deepen on participants ’ perceptions regarding how peer interactions promote the learning of attraction to violence in sexual-affective relationships. The results show that the participants perceived and experienced different types of coercion to have violent relationships in their peer group intera...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 3, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
A Canonical Correlation Analysis Study on the Association Between Neighborhood Green Space and Residents ’ Mental Health
AbstractBased on survey data conducted in Guangzhou in 2021, this study employs canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to evaluate the relationship between neighborhood green space, residents ’ green space use behavior, and their mental health. The results show that compared with the objectively measured accessibility, residents’ subjective perceived accessibility of neighborhood green space plays a greater role in promoting green space use behavior and mental health. Meanwhile, the plant diversity, safety, and the number of recreational facilities in a green space can promote the frequency of green space use, improve re...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 3, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Optimizing Sanitation Network Upgrading Projects in Slum Areas
AbstractInfrastructure upgrading projects are a key element in enhancing the livelihood of residents in slum areas. These projects face significant constructability challenges common to dense-urban construction coupled with the unique socioeconomic challenges of operating in slums. This research focuses on sanitation network upgrading projects in slum areas and proposes a novel methodology capable of (1) accounting for the unique constructability challenges for these projects, (2) accelerating the provision of sanitation services, and (3) optimizing construction decisions. The key contribution of this research to the body ...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 3, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Disdainful Hookups: a Powerful Social Determinant of Health
This study aims to identify the specific mechanisms by which the coercive dominant discourse manifests in the peer group and its consequences for adolescents. Forty-one 15- and 16-year-old female adolescents from three high schools in Barcelona participated in the study. Eight communicative discussion groups were conducted to deepen on participants ’ perceptions regarding how peer interactions promote the learning of attraction to violence in sexual-affective relationships. The results show that the participants perceived and experienced different types of coercion to have violent relationships in their peer group intera...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 3, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
From Crisis to Insight: Navigating Public Health Challenges in an Aging Society —Lessons from Hong Kong’s COVID-19 Experience
This article critically examines the experience of Hong Kong (HK) with the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the urgent need for effective public health responses in an aging society. As one of the world ’s fastest aging societies, Hong Kong’s vulnerability to the consequences of pandemics is particularly pronounced due to low birth rates and high life expectancies. The city has experienced multiple waves of the COVID-19 virus, with the fifth wave causing some of the highest mortality rates in t he world. However, through continuous learning and adaptation, HK’s public health response has evolved to combat the crisis ...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 1, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
15-min Cities: the Potential of a Medium-Sized Polycentric Latin American City
AbstractUrban sustainability and sustainable mobility have become the central focus of sustainable development initiatives. The city of 15 models seeks to ensure that urban development is sustainable. This paper evaluates the current state of mobility and the use of sustainable transport in the specific context of the city of Antofagasta, which, due to its characteristics of urban expansion and its mining activity, has been considered an international reference case. In particular, we study how the current urban structure shapes the city ’s travel patterns and identify opportunities for public policy actions to focus the...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 1, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Costs of Summer Youth Employment to Prevent Violence: an Analysis and Implementer ’s Tool
AbstractGun homicide rates have risen 35% across the USA since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. One promising intervention to prevent violent crime is summer youth employment programs (SYEPs), which provide youth with meaningful workplace experiences, prosocial engagements, and developmental opportunities during the summer months, when many otherwise lack structure. This paper presents a cost analysis of violence prevention-focused SYEPs to help implementers understand the costs generally and in their own community contexts —to advocate for adoption and secure funding of, effectively budget for, and successfully imple...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 1, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Vacant Building Removals Associated with Relative Reductions in Violent and Property Crimes in Baltimore, MD 2014 –2019
The objective of this research was to examine the effect of vacant building removals on violent and property crimes in Baltimore, MD from 2014 to 2019. We conducted a difference-in-differences analysis using spatio-temporal Bayesian mixed models on six crime types on block faces with and without building removals, before compared with after removal. There were significant reductions in total, violent crimes (with and without assaults), thefts, and burglaries on block faces with building removals relative to their controls. Total crimes decreased 1.4% per mi2 (CrI: 0.5 – 2.3%), which translates to a relative reduction ~...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - August 1, 2023 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
