The Health Benefits of Parks
Author: Erica Gies
Publisher:
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 32
ISBN-13:
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Implementing Strategies to Enhance Public Health Surveillance of Physical Activity in the United States
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2019-07-19
Total Pages: 197
ISBN-13: 0309492688
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPhysical activity has far-reaching benefits for physical, mental, emotional, and social health and well-being for all segments of the population. Despite these documented health benefits and previous efforts to promote physical activity in the U.S. population, most Americans do not meet current public health guidelines for physical activity. Surveillance in public health is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of outcome-specific data, which can then be used for planning, implementation and evaluation of public health practice. Surveillance of physical activity is a core public health function that is necessary for monitoring population engagement in physical activity, including participation in physical activity initiatives. Surveillance activities are guided by standard protocols and are used to establish baseline data and to track implementation and evaluation of interventions, programs, and policies that aim to increase physical activity. However, physical activity is challenging to assess because it is a complex and multidimensional behavior that varies by type, intensity, setting, motives, and environmental and social influences. The lack of surveillance systems to assess both physical activity behaviors (including walking) and physical activity environments (such as the walkability of communities) is a critical gap. Implementing Strategies to Enhance Public Health Surveillance of Physical Activity in the United States develops strategies that support the implementation of recommended actions to improve national physical activity surveillance. This report also examines and builds upon existing recommended actions.
Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change
Author: Melissa R. Marselle
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2019-06-11
Total Pages: 494
ISBN-13: 3030023184
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis open access book identifies and discusses biodiversity’s contribution to physical, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing. Furthermore, the book identifies the implications of this relationship for nature conservation, public health, landscape architecture and urban planning – and considers the opportunities of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation. This transdisciplinary book will attract a wide audience interested in biodiversity, ecology, resource management, public health, psychology, urban planning, and landscape architecture. The emphasis is on multiple human health benefits from biodiversity - in particular with respect to the increasing challenge of climate change. This makes the book unique to other books that focus either on biodiversity and physical health or natural environments and mental wellbeing. The book is written as a definitive ‘go-to’ book for those who are new to the field of biodiversity and health.
Urban Sprawl and Public Health
Author: Howard Frumkin
Publisher:
Published: 2004-07-09
Total Pages: 372
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK'Urban Sprawl and Public Health' offers a survey of the impact that the built environment can have on the health of the people who inhabit our cities. The authors go on to suggest ways in which the design of cities could be improved & have a positive impact on the well-being of their citizens.
Rethinking Urban Parks
Author: Setha M. Low
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 2009-05-21
Total Pages: 241
ISBN-13: 029277821X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA study of public recreation space and how urban developers can encourage ethnic diversity through planning that supports multiculturalism. Urban parks such as New York City’s Central Park provide vital public spaces where city dwellers of all races and classes can mingle safely while enjoying a variety of recreations. By coming together in these relaxed settings, different groups become comfortable with each other, thereby strengthening their communities and the democratic fabric of society. But just the opposite happens when, by design or in ignorance, parks are made inhospitable to certain groups of people. This pathfinding book argues that cultural diversity should be a key goal in designing and maintaining urban parks. Using case studies of New York City’s Prospect Park, Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park, and Jacob Riis Park in the Gateway National Recreation Area, as well as New York’s Ellis Island Bridge Proposal and Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, the authors identify specific ways to promote, maintain, and manage cultural diversity in urban parks. They also uncover the factors that can limit park use, including historical interpretive materials that ignore the contributions of different ethnic groups, high entrance or access fees, park usage rules that restrict ethnic activities, and park “restorations” that focus only on historical or aesthetic values. With the wealth of data in this book, urban planners, park professionals, and all concerned citizens will have the tools to create and maintain public parks that serve the needs and interests of all the public.
Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas
Author: Nadja Kabisch
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2017-09-01
Total Pages: 337
ISBN-13: 3319560913
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis open access book brings together research findings and experiences from science, policy and practice to highlight and debate the importance of nature-based solutions to climate change adaptation in urban areas. Emphasis is given to the potential of nature-based approaches to create multiple-benefits for society. The expert contributions present recommendations for creating synergies between ongoing policy processes, scientific programmes and practical implementation of climate change and nature conservation measures in global urban areas. Except where otherwise noted, this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Urban Green Spaces
Author: Viniece Jennings
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2019-03-28
Total Pages: 108
ISBN-13: 3030104699
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book crosses disciplinary boundaries to investigate how the benefits of green spaces can be further incorporated in public health. In this regard, the book highlights how ecosystem services provided by green spaces affect multiple aspects of human health and well-being, offering a strategic way to conceptualize the topic. For centuries, scholars have observed the range of health benefits associated with exposure to nature. As people continue to move to urban areas, it is essential to include green spaces in cities to ensure sustained human health and well-being. Such insights can not only advance the science but also spark interdisciplinary research and help researchers creatively translate their findings into benefits for the public. The book explores this topic in the context of ‘big picture’ frameworks that enhance communication between the environmental, public health, and social sciences.
Urban Green
Author: Peter Harnik
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 2012-07-16
Total Pages: 201
ISBN-13: 1597268127
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor years American urban parks fell into decay due to disinvestment, but as cities began to rebound—and evidence of the economic, cultural, and health benefits of parks grew— investment in urban parks swelled. The U.S. Conference of Mayors recently cited meeting the growing demand for parks and open space as one of the biggest challenges for urban leaders today. It is now widely agreed that the U.S. needs an ambitious and creative plan to increase urban parklands. Urban Green explores new and innovative ways for “built out” cities to add much-needed parks. Peter Harnik first explores the question of why urban parkland is needed and then looks at ways to determine how much is possible and where park investment should go. When presenting the ideas and examples for parkland, he also recommends political practices that help create parks. The book offers many practical solutions, from reusing the land under defunct factories to sharing schoolyards, from building trails on abandoned tracks to planting community gardens, from decking parks over highways to allowing more activities in cemeteries, from eliminating parking lots to uncovering buried streams, and more. No strategy alone is perfect, and each has its own set of realities. But collectively they suggest a path toward making modern cities more beautiful, more sociable, more fun, more ecologically sound, and more successful.
Communities in Action
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2017-04-27
Total Pages: 583
ISBN-13: 0309452961
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
Physical Activity and Public Health Practice
Author: Daniel B. Bornstein, PhD
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
Published: 2019-01-28
Total Pages: 414
ISBN-13: 0826134599
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPhysical Activity in Public Health Practice provides the first evidence-based, practical textbook to guide readers through the process of conceptualizing, justifying, implementing, and evaluating physical activity interventions across a broad array of settings and populations. Section One begins with an overview of epidemiology, measurement, critical milestones, and the importance of moving beyond individual-level physical activity intervention, to interventions aimed at policy-, systems-, and environmental-level changes. Section Two considers planning interventions across a variety of settings and populations, including general concepts for implementation and evaluation, how to build effective coalitions, steps for developing community-, regional- or state-level strategic plans, and effectively translating policy into practice. Section Three addresses how to implement physical activity strategies across a variety of settings, including worksites, faith-based settings, healthcare settings, schools, and parks and recreation. This section also provides guidance on the complexities and challenges of targeting interventions for specific populations, such as families, older adults, persons with disabilities, as well as different strategies for urban and rural populations. Lastly, Section Four outlines effective strategies for how to evaluate interventions depending upon impact, outcome, and cost evaluation, and dissemination models for your intervention. Presented from both a research and a practice perspective while discussing the best available research, this book provides the basis for planning and implementing physical activity programs that work and can build healthier communities. This hands-on text incorporates learning objectives, real-world examples, case studies, and bulleted lists whenever possible so that the content can be digested easily not only in undergraduate and graduate course settings but also by public health workers and other health educators in practice. Written by world experts and augmented by practical applications, this textbook prepares public health students and practitioners to develop effective interventions and spur greater physical activity in their communities. Key Features: Provides effective strategies for properly measuring and increasing physical activity in communities Demonstrates how to carry out physical activity interventions across a variety of settings, including schools, communities, worksites and many more Discusses methods for directing physical activity interventions to specific populations Delivers strategies for building successful partnerships and coalitions Practical group activities, exercises, discussion questions, audio podcast discussions, and a full instructor packet accompany the textbook
