The Electronic Community Park Audit Tool (eCPAT): Exploring the Use of Mobile Technology for Youth Empowerment and Advocacy for Healthy Community Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change

Addressing opioid misuse through community-engaged strategy development: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Involving stakeholders in the research process facilitates collaboration, increasing understanding of factors influencing their wellbeing and motivating community action. Currently, there is a need for randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of community-engaged research approaches for health, well-being, and engagement outcomes. In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of both the SEED Method and a modified Delphi method in a participatory project to develop local strategies to address the opioid epidemic in three rural communities. The purpose of this study is to increase the level of evidence for community-engaged research methods through a randomized controlled trial.

METHODS

Two communities will use the SEED Method and one will use a modified Delphi method. We aim to recruit a total of 144 participants (48 per community). The evaluation team will randomize participants to an intervention group or a control group. In addition, we will collect outcome data from the participatory research team members leading the projects in each county (n = 18) and from additional community members who participate in focus groups (n = 32). The primary outcome for all participants will be the change in self-reported civic engagement as measured by the total score on the Individual Mobilization Scale.

DISCUSSION

In the context of participatory action to address opioid misuse in rural counties, this study will provide an understanding of the effectiveness of two community engagement methods for increasing civic engagement, as well as the extent to which participants successfully create locally tailored action strategies. The study will also explore how the observed effects differ depending on the participant's role in the project (stakeholder participant, community research team member, or focus group participant), which is an important consideration for participatory research.

Identifying multilevel predictors of behavioral outcomes like park use: A comparison of conditional and marginal modeling approaches

This study compared marginal and conditional modeling approaches for identifying individual, park and neighborhood park use predictors. Data were derived from the ParkIndex study, which occurred in 128 block groups in Brooklyn (New York), Seattle (Washington), Raleigh (North Carolina), and Greenville (South Carolina). Survey respondents (n = 320) indicated parks within one half-mile of their block group used within the past month. Parks (n = 263) were audited using the Community Park Audit Tool. Measures were collected at the individual (park visitation, physical activity, sociodemographic characteristics), park (distance, quality, size), and block group (park count, population density, age structure, racial composition, walkability) levels. Generalized linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations were used. Ten-fold cross validation compared predictive performance of models. Conditional and marginal models identified common park use predictors: participant race, participant education, distance to parks, park quality, and population >65yrs. Additionally, the conditional mode identified park size as a park use predictor. The conditional model exhibited superior predictive value compared to the marginal model, and they exhibited similar generalizability. Future research should consider conditional and marginal approaches for analyzing health behavior data and employ cross-validation techniques to identify instances where marginal models display superior or comparable performance.

Developing and testing a protocol to systematically assess social interaction with urban outdoor environment

Social interaction is significant for individuals' mental and psychological well-being in communities. With the growing demand for outdoor activities in urban settings under the COVID‑19 pandemic, urban parks have become important public resources for human social activities. Researchers have developed numerous instruments to measure park use behaviors, but most are designed for assessing physical activity while ignoring social interactive behaviors. Despite the importance, no single protocol objectively assesses the range of social interactions in urban outdoor environments. To bridge the research gap, we have developed a social interaction scale (SIS) based on Parten's scheme. The innovative protocol, named Systematically Observing Social Interaction in Parks (SOSIP) was developed based on the SIS, allowing systematic evaluation of human's interactive behaviors in outdoor environment both from their levels of social interaction and group size. The psychometric properties of SOSIP were established through the verification of content validity and reliability tests. Additionally, we applied SOSIP to explore relationships between park features and social interaction via hierarchical linear models (HLMs). Statistical comparisons between SOSIP and other forms of social interaction were discussed and indicated strong reliability of applying SOSIP. The results indicated SOSIP is a valid and reliable protocol for objectively assessing social interactive behaviors within urban outdoor environments and informing better understanding of individuals' mental and psychological health benefits.

Comparative Review of Environmental Audit Tools for Public Open Spaces from the Perspective of Children's Activity

Public open spaces are important venues for children's participation in outdoor activities and social life. This study performs a comparative and qualitative review of the tools that can be used to audit the environments of children-focused public open spaces. The analysis reviews 25 studies involving 11 tools for comparison. The results reveal that (1) the tools were developed in different fields; (2) the tools use two data resources, field investigation and geographic databases; (3) the tool dimensions are diverse, as are the number of items covered, and are generally related to four categories: surrounding environment and accessibility, activity and perceived safety, children's sports and play opportunities, and aesthetic and comfort of the environment; (4) the reliability of most tools has been verified, with some validity still to be confirmed; (5) there are differences in tool users, settings, and aims. Among the tools, the CPAT and the EAPRS are the most comprehensive. Comparative analysis of the tools provides a reference for studies on children-focused public open spaces and for the development and improvement of corresponding tools in the future.

Environmental conditions, mobile digital culture, mobile usability, knowledge of app in COVID-19 risk mitigation: A structural equation model analysis

INTRODUCTION

The mobile digital culture (MDC) supports individual lives, communities, and real-time organizational surveillance during COVID-19 emergencies. Hence, the study examined the advancement in smart health devices evidence in smartphone apps technologies in surveillance, control, and tracking potential virus areas among high-risk populations.

OBJECTIVE

The study explored how environmental condition and MDC mediates between knowledge of App and mobile usability in the prevention of COVID-19 infection in high-risk areas.

METHODS

Using the concept of UTAUT, the study conceptualized that mobile usability, MDC, knowledge of App and environmental condition, are essential for COVID-19 mitigation. A cross-sectional method was adopted through an online survey to assess data from n = 459 mobile users. The association of the study models was appraised through structural equation models (Amos v.24.0).

RESULT

We found mobile usability, knowledge of App, and MDC were statistically significant to COVID-19 mitigation. Environment condition as mediator had no effect in the study models. However, moderating effect of MDC shows a negative influence on the association between COVID-19 mitigation and knowledge of apps.

CONCLUSION

Future policies should consider the development of mHealth technology to improve end-user experience. Also, future policies should entail data privacy to reduce the infringement of data collected. This approach will lead to a confidential, high acceptance of usability of mHealth apps infectious disease prevention.

Development and testing of mobile technology for community park improvements: validity and reliability of the eCPAT application with youth

Creation of mobile technology environmental audit tools can provide a more interactive way for youth to engage with communities and facilitate participation in health promotion efforts. This study describes the development and validity and reliability testing of an electronic version of the Community Park Audit Tool (eCPAT). eCPAT consists of 149 items and incorporates a variety of technology benefits. Criterion-related validity and inter-rater reliability were evaluated using data from 52 youth across 47 parks in Greenville County, SC. A large portion of items (>70 %) demonstrated either fair or moderate to perfect validity and reliability. All but six items demonstrated excellent percent agreement. The eCPAT app is a user-friendly tool that provides a comprehensive assessment of park environments. Given the proliferation of smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices among both adolescents and adults, the eCPAT app has potential to be distributed and used widely for a variety of health promotion purposes.