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Dianne C Barker

Publications and source records attributed to Dianne C Barker.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Indicators of activity-friendly communities: an evidence-based consensus process.

BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity, even at modest intensities, is associated with many health benefits. Most Americans, however, do not engage in the recommended levels. As practitioners seek ways to increase population rates of physical activity, interventions and advocacy efforts are being targeted to the community level. Yet, advocates, community leaders, and researchers lack the tools needed to assess local barriers to and opportunities for more active, healthy lifestyles. Investigators used a systematic review process to identify key indicators of activity-friendly communities that can assess and improve opportunities for regular physical activity. METHODS: Investigators conducted a comprehensive literature review of both peer-reviewed literature and fugitive information (e.g., reports and websites) to generate an initial list of indicators for review (n=230). The review included a three-tiered, modified Delphi consensus-development process that incorporated input of international, national, state, and local researchers and practitioners from academic institutions, federal and state government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and funding agencies in public health, transportation, urban planning, parks and recreation, and public policy. RESULTS: Ten promising indicators of activity-friendly communities were identified: land use environment, access to exercise facilities, transportation environment, aesthetics, travel patterns, social environment, land use economics, transportation economics, institutional and organizational policies, and promotion. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative, multidisciplinary approaches are underway to test, refine, and expand this initial list of indicators and to develop measures that communities, community leaders, and policymakers can use to design more activity-friendly community environments.

Consensus↗
PubMed2004

Opportunities for youth smoking cessation: findings from a national focus group study.

To identify opportunities for smoking cessation among adolescents, we conducted six computer-assisted telephone focus groups with 48 male and female high school student smokers and former smokers from six states across the United States, all aged 15-17 years, in two groups each of "established smokers," "late experimenters," and "quitters." These adolescents considered addiction to cigarettes real, powerful, stealthy, insidious, harmful, and avoidable. They considered quitting smoking achievable and desirable. Many of the established smokers and some experimenters would not consider quitting until an indefinite future, when they expected adult responsibilities to help them quit. Quitters had been encouraged by friends who did not smoke around them or offer them cigarettes; they also associated more with nonsmoking friends. Some adolescents, especially quitters, reported that parents had tried to help them quit; some smokers reported that parents had provided them with cigarettes. Some adolescents reported school rules and enforcement that made it hard to smoke; others reported school rules and enforcement that made it easy and tempting to smoke. These adolescents were not aware of the availability of professional help or interested in it. Many did not consider smoking urgent or "intense" enough for professional help. Perceptions of cessation programs were nonexistent or negative. Participants were aware of nicotine replacement therapies but less so of prescription medications. These findings suggest that it is critical to educate adolescents about what good cessation programming is and is not, why it is needed, how it might help, and where it is offered.

Adolescent↗