The Public Health impact of Urban Blight: Vacant Lot...

ThePublicHealthimpactofUrbanBlight:VacantLotGreeningandtheCaseforResearcher-Prac@@onerpartnerships

GinaSouth,MDMS

AssistantProfessorofEmergencyMedicineUniversityofPennsylvania

ReclaimingVacantProper@esConferenceSept30,2016

Objec@ves

•  Publichealthframework•  Healthimpactofvacantproper@es•  Vacantlotgreening– Healthbenefits– Researcher-prac@@onerpartnershipwiththePennsylvaniaHor@cultureSociety

ChangingPlacesaffects“MorePeopleforLongerPeriodsofTime”

ChangingPLACEStomakedefaultdecisionshealthy

Frieden,2010;IOM,2003

Healthimpactofvacantland:Communityperspec@ve

HealthDomain •  CommunityWellbeing

•  PhysicalHealth

•  MentalHealth

Theme•  Fracture@es•  Overshadowposi@ves•  Financialstrain•  Crime

•  Injury•  Trashbuildup

•  S@gma•  Nega@veemo@ons•  FearofCrime

Garvin,JUH2012

OnCommunityWellbeing...

“Theabandonedhomesjustmessesuplikethebeautyoftheneighborhood.LikeIstatedoncertainblockstheremaybelikethreeorfourhomesthatarelikewelltakencareof.Thenyouhavethatvacantlotthatjusthastrashandotherthingsinit,whichmessesuphowbeau@fultheblockreallycouldbe.ThelotsandstuffalsodrawotheraZen@onwhere,youknow,kidsplayinginthedirt...Thevacanthomesalsoforexample,whenit’srainingthekids,likeIsaid18to25,maygoonavacantporchandstarttohangoutthere.AnditdrawsaZen@ontotheelderlywomennextdoorandthingslikethat.”

OnSafety...

“Ihaveatoddler....I’dliketotakeheroutmoreo`en.I’dliketotakeheronwalks.Butthere’ssomuchgoingontowhereI’mscaredmostofthe@metotakeherout.Alotof@mesIbraveit.ButI’mactuallyscaredtotakeherouttowalkthestreetsofthisneighborhood,togoevenplayintheplayground,likeIsaidbefore.There’swinosanddrugaddictsandneedles,yeah,intheplayground.”

OnMentalHealth...

“Itmakesmefeelnotimportant.LikeIthinkthatyoursurroundingslikeyourenvironment[vacantland]affectsyourmood,itaffectsyourtrainofthought,yourthoughtprocess,youremo@ons,andseeingvacantlotsandabandonedbuildings,tomethat’sasignofneglect.SoIfeelneglected.”

OnRodentsandTrash...

“Whenyouhavenicehomesandthenyouhavethatonehomethat’sjustvacantoryoustarttogetamiceproblembecauseofthevacantlotsandthingslikethat.AndthenthevacantlotsusuallyturnintoliZeringproblemswithpeoplethrowingtrashandthingslikethat.”

Urbanblightandhealth

•  NeighborhoodPhysicalCondi@onsandHealth,Cohen2003–  Ecologicalstudyof107USci@esusingadministra@vedata–  Thenumberofboarded-upunitswasstronglyassociatedwithprematuremortalityfromhomicide,suicide,DM,andmalignancy

•  NeighborhoodDisorderandMarijuanaUse,Furr-

Holden2011–  566adolescents@12thgradeand2yrslater–  Livinginneighborhoodswithincreasingnumbersofabandonedproper@esassociatedwithincreasinglevelsofmarijuanause

Greening

PennsylvaniaHor@cultureSociety

Trash/Weedremoval Earthwork,seeding

Fencing Treeplan@ng

Before

A`er

Before

A`er

ImpactofGreening:Quasi-experimental

Outof17differentoutcomes:

Guncrime(inallcitysec@ons)*

Vandalism(inWestPhiladelphia)*

Stress(inNorthPhiladelphia)*

Exercise(inWestPhiladelphia)*

Branas,AJE2011

*p<0.01

ImpactofGreening:RCT

•  Peoplelivingaroundgreenedlotsfeltsignificantlysafera`ergreeningcomparedtothoselivingaroundcontrolvacantlots(p<0.01).

•  Non-significantdecreaseintotalcrimesandgunassaultsaroundgreenedvacantlots.

Garvin,IP2012

Significantdropinheartratewhenwalkinginviewofnewlygreenedlots

WalkingTests

Garvin2012,South2015

“Yougottowatchyourselfwalkingpastthelotsbecauseyoudon’tknowwho’soutthere.”

“It’snotsafewalkingpast[abandonedhomes]becausetheoneacrossfrommelookslikeit’sgelngreadytocavein.”

“IfIcouldchangethingsIwould.Therewouldn’tbesomanyvacantlots[and]abandonedhouses.”

AbandonedHouseRemedia@on:“DoorsandWindows”

UrbanBlightRemedia@on•  Urbanblightremedia@oncansignificantlyreduce:–  Biologicandself-reportedstress–  Depressionandseriousmentalillness–  Sedentarybehavior–  SeriouscrimeslikegunviolencewithahighROI–  Nuisancecrimes–  Percep@onsofhighcrimeandvandalism

•  Why?–  Biologic:stressandpoormentalhealth–  Sociologic:collec@veefficacyinimpoverished,under-resourcedareas

–  Physical:blightedspacesare“storagelockers”forillegalguns

CommunityEngagedResearch

•  “Researchersandcommuni@esworkingtoestablishtrust,sharepower,fosterco-learning,strengthsandresources,buildcapacity,andexamineandaddresscommunity-iden@fiedneedsandhealthproblems”

PHSPartnership

•  Rela@onshipfosteredoveryears•  Founda@onofcommunica@onandmutualrespect

•  Mutuallybeneficial•  Sustainability

Discussion....

eugenia.south@uphs.upenn.edu