The topic of building healthy environments within the community has been relevant in modern contexts because the quality of the surroundings has a direct influence on how health outcomes are developed within the population. Policymakers in this sphere have been tasked with making policy decisions regarding the establishment of healthy environments, including transportation, housing, and energy, all of which require collaborative measures. In their article, Koehler et al. (2018) aimed to provide a guide that community leaders should use when discussing public health effects of decisions about developed environments. The expertise of the authors is attributed to their work at the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at John Hopkins University, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Vital Strategies, and Our Planet organizations. Practical tools that assist in environmental decision-making, including Health Impact Assessments, cumulative risk assessments, and environmental public health tracking are also discussed.
The value of the study is linked to a large range of recommendations for improving public environments to increase the health outcomes of the population. The proposed framework for healthy communities implies the use of public health tools and approaches to strengthen the quality of relations between public health and the built environment. For example, it is suggested to improve the quality of green spaces and waterways because they offer people opportunities to congregate, exercise, and relax. In regard to housing, the authors recommend implementing initiatives to build affordable and healthy housing as well as end both ethnic and economic segregation of underserved populations (Koehler et al., 2018). Another important takeaway from the study refers to the need to develop partnerships with communities across a multitude of disciplines to implement efforts that would align with community needs. Researchers must integrate citizen science into the process of decision-making to address real-world issues. In addition, education is needed to enhance cross-disciplinary skills and ensure that environments are created for the population.
Reference
Koehler, K., Latshaw, M., Matte, T., Kass, D., Frumkin, H., Fox, M., … Burke, T. (2018). Building healthy community environments: A public health approach. Public Health Reports, 113(Supplement 1), 355-435.