 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Khadija Mani, BA, Daniel Eduardo Prince, BS, Julie Hsieh, B, Amy Monique Brown, BA, and Sara Fitzgerald, BA. Health Policy and Administration, Yale University School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510
Background: One of the goals of Healthy People 2010 is to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health status. Increasingly, public health and social science researchers are examining broader social determinants and structural inequalities that affect individual behavior and health outcomes.
Purpose: This study aims to note the importance of understanding the built environment in which people live: the spatial characteristics of neighborhoods – safe spaces for exercise and recreation as well as residential segregation, accessibility to grocery stories, transportation, housing – and how these characteristics contribute to quality of life, life enhancing resources, and incidence of some chronic diseases. The city of New Haven, Connecticut, chosen as the study site, is known to be one of the poorest cities in the U.S. situated in one of the richest states.
Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted for selection of the structural inequality indicators and development of qualitative indices, including access to nutritious food, physical activity, and wealth. These indices were unified into a composite structural inequalities index. Secondary data from census tracts and health statistics was analyzed for selection of neighborhoods for implementation into the structural inequalities indices. Predominantly African American neighborhoods were compared to predominantly white neighborhoods to document structural inequalities.
Expected Outcome: The outcome of the project will be to develop accurate and replicable indices and to identify key criteria for documenting structural inequalities. These identifiable criteria will increase knowledge of primary prevention for diseases directly influenced by structural factors, such as diabetes and obesity.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Primary Prevention, Indicators
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.