Ferris Emily B, Wyka Katarzyna, Evenson Kelly R, Dorn Joan M, Thorpe Lorna, Catellier Diane, Huang Terry T-K
Center for Systems and Community Design, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York, New York, NY, United States.
Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
JMIR Form Res. 2021 Mar 24;5(3):e18591. doi: 10.2196/18591.
Longitudinal, natural experiments provide an ideal evaluation approach to better understand the impact of built environment interventions on community health outcomes, particularly health disparities. As there are many participant engagement challenges inherent in the design of large-scale community-based studies, adaptive and iterative participant engagement strategies are critical. This paper shares practical lessons learned from the Physical Activity and Redesigned Community Spaces (PARCS) study, which is an evaluation of the impact of a citywide park renovation initiative on physical activity, psychosocial health, and community well-being. The PARCS study, although ongoing, has developed several approaches to improve participant engagement: building trust with communities, adapting the study protocol to meet participants' needs and to reflect their capacity for participation, operational flexibility, and developing tracking systems. These strategies may help researchers anticipate and respond to participant engagement challenges in community-based studies, particularly in low-income communities of color.
纵向自然实验提供了一种理想的评估方法，有助于更好地理解建成环境干预对社区健康结果的影响，尤其是对健康差距的影响。由于大规模社区研究设计中存在许多参与者参与方面的挑战，适应性和迭代性的参与者参与策略至关重要。本文分享了从“体育活动与重新设计社区空间”（PARCS）研究中吸取的实践经验，该研究评估了全市范围公园翻新倡议对体育活动、心理社会健康和社区福祉的影响。PARCS研究虽然仍在进行中，但已开发出几种提高参与者参与度的方法：与社区建立信任、调整研究方案以满足参与者需求并反映其参与能力、运营灵活性以及开发跟踪系统。这些策略可能有助于研究人员预测并应对社区研究中，特别是有色人种低收入社区的参与者参与挑战。
