A Community EcoHealth Index from EnviroAtlas Ecosystem Services Metrics

Investigation on urban greenspace in relation to sociodemographic factors and health inequity based on different greenspace metrics in 3 US urban communities

BACKGROUND

Study results are inconclusive regarding how access to greenspace differs by sociodemographic status potentially due to lack of consideration of varying dimensions of greenspace.

OBJECTIVE

We investigated how provision of greenspace by sociodemographic status varies by greenspace metrics reflecting coverage and accessibility of greenspace.

METHODS

We used vegetation levels measured by Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), percent of greenspace, percent tree cover, percent tree cover along walkable roads, and percent of people living ≤500 m of a park entrance (park accessibility). We considered data for 2008-2013 in Census block groups in 3 US regions: New Haven, Connecticut; Baltimore, Maryland; and Durham, North Carolina. We examined geographical distribution of greenspace metrics and their associations with indicators of income, education, linguistic isolation, race/ethnicity, and age. We used logistic regression to examine associations between these greenspace metrics and age-standardized mortality controlling for sociodemographic indicators.

RESULTS

Which region had the highest greenspace depended on the greenspace metric used. An interquartile range (33.6%) increase in low-income persons was associated with a 6.2% (95% CI: 3.1, 9.3) increase in park accessibility, whereas it was associated with 0.03 (95% CI: -0.035, -0.025) to 7.3% (95% CI: -8.7, -5.9) decreases in other greenspace metrics. A 15.5% increase in the lower-education population was associated with a 2.1% increase (95% CI: -0.3%, 4.6%) in park accessibility but decreases with other greenspace metrics (0.02 to 5.0%). These results were consistent across the 3 study areas. The odds of mortality rate more than the 75th percentile rate were inversely associated with all greenspace metrics except for annual average EVI (OR 1.27, 95% CI: 0.43, 3.79) and park accessibility (OR 1.40, 95% CI: 0.52, 3.75).

SIGNIFICANCE

Environmental justice concerns regarding greenspace differ by the form of natural resources, and pathways of health benefits can differ by form of greenspace and socioeconomic status within communities.

IMPACT STATEMENT

Comparisons of exposure to greenspace between different greenspace metrics should be incorporated in decision-making within local contexts.

Ecohealth Approach in Anticipating Japanese Encephalitis in Tulungagung District, East Java Province

Japanese-B-encephalitis (JE) is a disease caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus from the Flavivirus group, the Flaviviridae family. In Indonesia, JE cases have not been widely reported in both animals and humans, although encephalitis in humans is common. Yamanaka reported positive for anti-JE antibodies in 96 (6%) pigs in Tulungagung District. Environmental elements need to be identified to support the establishment of a healthy ecosystem to minimize the potential of JE transmission. This study aims to identify the environment that can support JE transmission and conceptualize possible approaches. The method is carried out by conducting environmental observations of risky environmental conditions in April November 2016 and searching for supporting literature. The results showed that there were many puddles in the environment of chicken and pig farms. Besides that, there were many open puddles of household waste in the residential areas. This place is the habitat for Culex Sp. mosquitoes. Another research reported 19.05% of pigs who were positive for Ab JE in Tulungagung District. Environmental improvement can be done by cultivating fish that is resistant to dirty water, for example, catfish in ponds in chicken and pig farms and the construction of closed disposal facilities.