Evaluating the Effects of the Harmony, FL Built Environment on Health Outcomes and Best Practices

Objectives:  Researchers at the University of Central Florida and University of Miami are initiating a longitudinal study examining the relationship between health behavior/status and key elements of the planned physical/natural environment of Harmony, FL. This ~2,000 member community was designed over 10 years ago with the intent to promote healthy interactions between humans and nature. The study will attempt to examine the additive and interactive effects of engagement with the natural environment for youth and adults. The results from the Harmony Translational Health Study will provide the fundamental knowledge for the creation of community best practices, such as the specific interactions between humans, animals and the environment in improving the health of individual communities.

Methods:  Based on the resources and scope of the current project it was decided that the creation of a baseline questionnaire that would be administered regularly would best serve the initial and long-term objectives. A thorough systematic review of the literature in respects to individual questionnaires (over 30 with about 3,500 questions) that examine the unique interactions between the built, natural environment (including dark skies), human-animal interactions and health was conducted. Final questions were drawn from various sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7^th Day Adventist and World Health Organization. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System was chosen as the core foundation for adults (> 18 years), while the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System was chosen as the core for both children (middle school and under, ~<14 years) and youth (high school; ~14-18 years). The foundational questionnaires were key for comparability and general health risk assessment, however there were still large gaps in the research objectives not addressed. Therefore additional questions were reviewed by committee members of the Harmony Translational Health Study for inclusion in the pilot questionnaire. The pilot questionnaire is being tested among reference populations.  After incorporating needed changes discovered during the pilot test phase, the initial baseline questionnaire will be administered to the resident community.

Results:  The pilot questionnaire will be distributed over the summer and results will be analyzed prior to the fall roll out of the full resident baseline questionnaire. Initial results of the baseline will be analyzed and ready for presentation by the time of the conference. Therefore both the pilot and initial baseline results will be presented at the conference.