TY - JOUR
T1 - Building Healthy Community Environments
T2 - A Public Health Approach
AU - Koehler, Kirsten
AU - Latshaw, Megan
AU - Matte, Thomas
AU - Kass, Daniel
AU - Frumkin, Howard
AU - Fox, Mary
AU - Hobbs, Benjamin F.
AU - Wills-Karp, Marsha
AU - Burke, Thomas A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article was produced with the support of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which is funded by a grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies. Partial support for Koehler and Hobbs also provided by an Air Climate & Energy (ACE) Center Grant funded by US Environmental Protection Agency Assistance Agreement No. RD835871.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/11
Y1 - 2018/11
N2 - Environmental quality has a profound effect on health and the burden of disease. In the United States, the environment-related burden of disease is increasingly dominated by chronic diseases. At the local level, public health practitioners realize that many policy decisions affecting environmental quality and health transcend the authorities of traditional health department programs. Healthy decisions about the built environment, including housing, transportation, and energy, require broad collaborative efforts. Environmental health professionals have an opportunity to address the shift in public health burden toward chronic diseases and play an important role in the design of healthy communities by bringing data and tools to decision makers. This article provides a guide for community leaders to consider the public health effects of decisions about the built environment. We present a conceptual framework that represents a shift from compartmentalized solutions toward an inclusive systems approach that encourages partnership across disciplines and sectors. We discuss practical tools to assist with environmental decision making, such as Health Impact Assessments, environmental public health tracking, and cumulative risk assessment. We also identify priorities in research, practice, and education to advance the role of public health in decision making to improve health, such as the Health Impact Assessment, as a core competency for environmental health practitioners. We encourage cross-disciplinary communication, research, and education that bring the fields of planning, transportation, and energy in closer collaboration with public health to jointly advance the systems approach to today’s environmental challenges.
AB - Environmental quality has a profound effect on health and the burden of disease. In the United States, the environment-related burden of disease is increasingly dominated by chronic diseases. At the local level, public health practitioners realize that many policy decisions affecting environmental quality and health transcend the authorities of traditional health department programs. Healthy decisions about the built environment, including housing, transportation, and energy, require broad collaborative efforts. Environmental health professionals have an opportunity to address the shift in public health burden toward chronic diseases and play an important role in the design of healthy communities by bringing data and tools to decision makers. This article provides a guide for community leaders to consider the public health effects of decisions about the built environment. We present a conceptual framework that represents a shift from compartmentalized solutions toward an inclusive systems approach that encourages partnership across disciplines and sectors. We discuss practical tools to assist with environmental decision making, such as Health Impact Assessments, environmental public health tracking, and cumulative risk assessment. We also identify priorities in research, practice, and education to advance the role of public health in decision making to improve health, such as the Health Impact Assessment, as a core competency for environmental health practitioners. We encourage cross-disciplinary communication, research, and education that bring the fields of planning, transportation, and energy in closer collaboration with public health to jointly advance the systems approach to today’s environmental challenges.
KW - air pollution
KW - built environment
KW - energy and health
KW - environmental health
KW - public health
KW - transportation and health
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U2 - 10.1177/0033354918798809
DO - 10.1177/0033354918798809
M3 - Article
C2 - 30426875
AN - SCOPUS:85056502399
SN - 0033-3549
VL - 133
SP - 35S-43S
JO - Public health reports
JF - Public health reports
IS - Supplement 1
ER -