HMC Supplement Progress Report -
ENVIRONMENT
February 2006
Supplement Title:
The Impact of the Physical and Socioeconomic Environment on Changes in
Diet, Physical Activity,
and Obesity
Supplement
Chair/
Affiliation:
Jeff
Migneault, PhD - Boston University School of
Medicine
Purpose:
To investigate the interaction of environmental factors and health
behavior interventions and to assist
participating sites in the use of social, economic, and built
environmental factors in efforts to
understand the promotion of long-term behavior change.
Environment
Sharepoint
Group:
Sharepoint
Contact – Jeff Migneault
(In addition to HMCRC Members)
Progress
to Date:
We have made significant progress to date. We collaborated with
the “The
Role of Depression and Context in Health Behavior”
supplement (Brooke Randall) which is also using geocoded data to
determine an exact protocol for geocoding addresses and a common set of
environmental variables to link with these geocodes. We have also
developed a self-report Environmental Perception Survey (EPS) that most
of the participating studies will administer at least once.
We have plans to use this instrument to not only investigate
environmental influences on behavior, but also how changes in health
behavior might affect perception of ones environment.
We are starting the
geocoding and linking variables with Deborah
Toobert’s
Mediterranean
Lifestyle Program study as this one is furthest along.
Challenges to Date:
So far
our progress has been fairly smooth. There is always effort needed
to find times to discuss issues and gain consensus with multiple
collaborators, but this has actually gone quite well.
Next Steps:
Geocode
data as it becomes available. Work within individual studies
to plan analyses, starting with
Mediterranean
Lifestyle Program study.
