UNDERSTANDING NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACTS OF HEALTH

社区对许多健康结果都有影响，包括婴儿死亡率、哮喘和心脏病的发展以及预期寿命，这些与个人特征无关。人们对社区“深入人心”的途径只了解了一部分。该中心将研究社区对健康的影响，重点关注那些可能通过公共政策的变化而改变的社区特征。中心的目标如下：

Neighborhoods impact a host of health outcomes, including infant mortality, the development of asthma and heart disease and life expectancy, independent of personal characteristics. The pathways through which neighborhoods 'get under the skin', are only partly understood. This center will study neighborhood influences on health, focusing on those characteristics of neighborhoods that are potentially amenable to change through changes in public policy. The Center has the following goals: 1) To conduct research to explain how neighborhoods contribute to health throughout the life cycle, including through biological pathways and health behaviors 2) To develop a rich data resource that can be used to advance the understanding of how neighborhoods influence health, and the biological pathways through which such influences work. 3) To develop robust community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships within each of the 3 cities in which RAND is located, involving both community-based organizations and academic institutions. 4) To develop and foster a community of interdisciplinary researchers (including social and basic scientists) focused on the social determinants of health, specifically the role of neighborhoods in health. 5) To contribute to improving public policies that can improve population health through a set of policy recommendations that are developed from the results of the Center's research. The Center, which places a high priority on community-based participatory research, will be composed of 4 projects, 2 pilots, and 2 cores. Projects span 3 levels of analysis: biological, social/environmental, and behavioral/psychological. Project 1 will examine the impact of a large natural experiment involving the development and renovation of recreational facilities on physical activity and other health outcomes. Project 2 will study neighborhood factors that impact the functional and cognitive aspects of the disabling process in the elderly. Project 3 examines the relationships between neighborhoods and biological markers of allostatic load. Project 4 studies the impact of the built environment on mental health. An administrative core will support the entire project. A data and methods core provides data and computing support, and serves as a focus for intellectual activity around measurement and statistical issues.