Interdisciplinary Planning for Healthier Communities

Health disparities that affect whole communities may involve factors like housing quality that lie at least partly within planners' realm of policy influence. This article demonstrates a link between housing and childhood asthma. The magnitude of the childhood asthma epidemic in Harlem in New Y...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Planning Association 2006-01, Vol.72 (1), p.100
Main Authors: Spielman, Seth E, Golembeski, Cynthia A, Northridge, Mary E, Vaughan, Roger D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allergens
Asthma
Children & youth
Childrens health
Cities
Epidemics
Health care
Health disparities
Housing
Housing conditions
Hygiene
Indigent care
Interdisciplinary aspects
Low income groups
Medical research
Neighborhoods
Planning
Public health
Studies
Tobacco smoke
Urban planning
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Health disparities that affect whole communities may involve factors like housing quality that lie at least partly within planners' realm of policy influence. This article demonstrates a link between housing and childhood asthma. The magnitude of the childhood asthma epidemic in Harlem in New York City and the commitment of engaged community partners led to an interdisciplinary, participatory, and multifaceted approach to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the Harlem Children's Zone Asthma Initiative. Here we present the first year's data on environmental triggers in the homes of program participants, showing that intensive, community-based programs can reduce both home environmental triggers and adverse childhood asthma outcomes. This provides an example of a community-wide public health intervention that informs public policy and planning, and may provide a sustainable model for reducing childhood asthma in impoverished communities. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0194-4363
1939-0130