Creating Healthy Communities, Healthy Homes, Healthy People: Initiating a Research Agenda on the Built Environment and Public Health
Shobha Srinivasan, PhD,
Liam R. OFallon, MA and
Allen Dearry, PhD
Shobha Srinivasan, Allen Dearry, and Liam R. OFallon are with the Division of Extramural Research, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Shobha Srinivasan, PhD, Scientific Program Administrator, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 111 TW Alexander Drive, P.O. Box 12233 (MD EC-21), Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 (e-mail: sriniva2{at}niehs.nih.gov).
Mounting evidence suggests physical and mental health problemsrelate to the built environment, including human-modified placessuch as homes, schools, workplaces, parks, industrial areas,farms, roads and highways. The public health relevance of thebuilt environment requires examination.
Preliminary research demonstrates the health benefits of sustainablecommunities. However, the impact of mediating and moderatingfactors within the built environment on health must be exploredfurther. Given the complexity of the built environment, understandingits influence on human health requires a community-based, multilevel,interdisciplinary research approach.
The authors offer recommendations, based upon a recent conferencesponsored by the National Institute of Environmental HealthSciences (NIEHS), for research and policy approaches, and suggestinteragency research alliances for greater public health impact.
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