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At least 559 records · Page 31Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Dog ownership, health and physical activity: a critical review of the literature.

This review examines the association between dog ownership and adult physical activity levels. While there is evidence to suggest that dog ownership produces considerable health benefit and provides an important form of social support that encourages dog owners to walk, there is limited evidence on the physical environmental and policy-related factors that affect dog owners walking with their dog. With the high level of dog ownership in many industrialized countries, further exploration of the relationship between dog ownership and physical activity levels may be important for preventing declining levels of physical activity and the associated detrimental health effects.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Age-adjusted mortality and its association to variations in urban conditions in Shanghai.

The objective of this study was to explore the association between health and urbanization in a megacity, Shanghai, by calculating the age-adjusted mortality ratio by ward-unit of Shanghai and by examining relationships between mortalities and urban indicators. Crude mortality rates and age-adjusted mortality ratios by ward-unit were calculated. Demographic, residential environment, healthcare, and socioeconomic indicators were formulated for each of the ward-units between 1995 and 1998. Correlation and Poisson regression analyses were performed to examine the association between urban indicators and mortalities. The crude mortality rate by ward-unit in 1997 varied from 6.3 to 9.4 deaths per 1000 population. The age-adjusted mortality ratio in 1997 by ward-units as reference to the average mortality of urban China varied from 57.8 to 113.3 within Shanghai. Age-adjusted mortalities were inversely related with indicators of a larger floor space of dwellings per population, a larger proportion of parks, gardens, and green areas to total land area; a greater number of health professionals per population; and a greater number of employees in retail business per population. Spacious living showed independent association to a higher standard of community health in Shanghai (P < 0.05). Consequences of health policy and the developments of urban infrastructural resources from the viewpoint of the Healthy Cities concept were discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2003

Do you think that your local area is a good place for young people to grow up? The effects of traffic and car parking on young people's views.

The damaging effects on well-being of the increasing number of motor vehicles on the roads, accidents and emissions aside, are often overlooked. Among 11-16 year olds in Wales, those who reported living with busy traffic and car parking were found to be less likely to have positive perceptions of the safety, friendliness, appearance, play facilities and helpfulness of the people in their local area. This was independent of the effect of socio-economic circumstance. Results are discussed in terms of the potential negative effect on sense of community identity, health and well-being, and the need for good environmental design and development of more pedestrian-friendly living areas.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Maximizing usability: the principles of universal design.

The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University has developed a set of seven Principles of Universal Design that may be used to guide the design process, to evaluate existing or new designs, and to teach students and practitioners. This article presents preceding design guidelines and evaluation criteria, describes the process of developing the Principles, lists The Principles of Universal Design and provides examples of designs that satisfy each, and suggests future developments that would facilitate applying the Principles to assess the usability of all types of products and environments.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Identifying environmental factors that influence the outcomes of people with traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the types of environmental barriers reported by persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to identify the relations between environmental barriers and such components of societal participation as employment, community mobility, social integration, and life satisfaction. DESIGN: Seventy-three persons with TBI who were participating in the TBI Model Systems program at Craig Hospital were surveyed at 1 year, using a new measure of the environment, the Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors (CHIEF), which rates frequency and impact of 25 barriers. RESULTS: Transportation, the surroundings, government policies, attitudes, and the natural environment were the environmental barriers with the greatest reported impact. Those who were married, older, and unemployed or not in school reported the most barriers overall. Additionally, those reporting a greater impact from environmental barriers also reported lower levels of participation and life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Although environmental barriers affect TBI survivors and play a role in their outcomes, their interplay with other, perhaps as yet unidentified, factors requires continued research. CHIEF may be a valuable tool for understanding the environment's role in the lives of people with TBI, and identifying the general environmental domains where interventions are needed to reduce their negative impact.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1989

Environmental adaptation by persons in their later life.

In an attempt to delay institutionalization among elders while supporting their widespread desire for privacy and independence in living style, it has been deemed necessary to adapt the physical and social milieu to fit declining competence. The theoretical rationale underlying current housing policy can be identified in person-environment theories of aging. The aims of this article are to (1) assess critically and expand Lawton's ecological model of aging as it pertains to environmental decisions among the elderly, and (2) test a series of hypotheses derived from the theoretical discussion using a 1987 study of environmental adaptation among 280 elderly, 74 years of age and over, living in the community. The most striking finding is the tendency for older elderly to engage in psychological processes of adaptation to a greater extent than altering the physical or social characteristics of the home environment. The findings suggest extending the Lawton model to include a wider range of subjective attributes of the individual.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2003

Relative influences of individual, social environmental, and physical environmental correlates of walking.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to examine individual, social environmental, and physical environmental correlates of walking. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthy workers and homemakers residing in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. RESULTS: Most respondents walked for transport or recreation, but only 17.2% did a sufficient amount of walking to accrue health benefits. After adjustment, the relative influences of individual, social environmental, and physical environmental factors were found to be almost equally important. CONCLUSIONS: Although walking is popular, few people do enough walking to benefit their health. Those who walk as well as engage in other physical activities appear more likely to achieve recommended levels of activity. Promoting walking may require a comprehensive strategy.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Evaluating architectural design review.

Architectural design review is a method of environmental management which is widely used by governmental agencies in both the United States and in Great Britain. Because design review is a governmental function, there is a major need to assess how well it works. Research covering over 29,000 respondents and 5,600 environmental scenes suggests that scientific protocols can be adapted to provide an accurate and efficient design review protocol. The protocol uses preference experiments to find the standardized mean difference [formula: see text] between a proposed project and a random sample of existing projects. Values of d will indicate whether the project will increase, maintain, or diminish the aesthetic merit of the sampled area. The protocol is illustrated by applying it to the case of design review for a single residence. Implications for further implementations are discussed.

Architecture↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health promoting community design: a new paradigm to promote healthy and active communities.

Richard Killingsworth explains that we have engineered routine forms of physical activity out of our daily lives, and that this is an important contributor to the obesity epidemic which claims at least 200,000 lives each year in the United States alone. A new field of study is emerging to address this problem, and the American Journal of Health Promotion has launched a new editorial section called "Health Promoting Community Design" to provide a forum to disseminate research in this new area.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Zoning should promote public health.

Legally, governments use their police powers to protect public health, safety, and welfare through zoning. This paper presents a case for revisiting zoning on the basis of increasing evidence that certain types of community design promote public health, as opposed to the dominant pattern of sprawl development, which does not. Zoning, and the land use planning linked to it, that prohibits or disfavors health-promoting community designs contradicts the inherent public policy goal on which it is based. If there is a paradigm shift underway, from traditional sprawl to health-promoting community designs, then health professionals and others should understand why zoning must be reassessed.

Environment Design↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Impact of language barrier on acute care medical professionals is dependent upon role.

Communication with patients is essential to providing quality medical care. The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of language barriers on health care professionals. It is hypothesized that these language barriers are commonly perceived by health care professionals and they are a source of workplace stress in acute care environments. We designed and distributed a survey tool of staff experiences and attitudes regarding the English-Spanish language barrier among patients in an acute care surgical environment of a tertiary medical center. Responses were anonymous, stratified by professional role and comparisons made using paired t tests. Sixty-one nurses and 36 physicians responded to the survey. Overall, 95% of nurses reported that the language barrier was an impediment to quality care, whereas 88% of physicians responded similarly (P = .0004). More nurses than physicians report experiencing stress (97% vs. 78%) and the degree of stress appears to be greater for nurses (P < .0001). The basis of stress was unique between the two groups. This study demonstrates that acute care hospital medical professionals perceive language barriers as an impediment to quality care delivery and as a source of workplace stress. Nurse and physician perceptions differ; therefore, strategies to address these language barriers should be specific to those professional roles. These barriers create a void in health care quality and safety that has effects on health care professionals.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1976

[Industrial hygienic complex examinations of places of employment of elderly workers in telecommunication technics].

Authors examinated conditions on 76 places of employment of elderly women by means of a screening methode, an estimated findings in comparison to design standards under consideration of special aspects of aged workers. In regard of work organization, physic strain, demands to sense organs and the exposition of environment factors conditions were acceptable. Imperfections in plase dimensions, lighing and laps organization induced 139 detailled straffs. Directions of the examinated enterprise till now many things improved in conformity with this study.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1989

[Methodologic approaches to the study of the effect of complex environmental factors on the population's health].

The purpose of the study was to assess the dynamics of complex pollution of urban and occupational environment, territory design, air and water contamination and acoustic regime being taken into account. The technique for calculating the total load on the population was used for environment description. It was based on actual contamination in relation to standard one and the time of its effect. The ratio between total load and population's morbidity was defined. The impact of urban and occupational environment on adult and child morbidity rates was established. Environmental factors were ranked by their effect on population's morbidity rates.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Neighborhood design and active aging.

This qualitative analysis of focus groups describes how neighborhood design encourages active aging. Nine focus groups were conducted in 2002 and 2003 with residents (N=60) aged 55 and over living in Portland, OR, USA. Content analysis revealed that local shopping and services, traffic and pedestrian infrastructure, neighborhood attractiveness, and public transportation influence activity among older adults. This information will be useful for making policy recommendations relating to land use planning and transportation, to assist in senior-friendly developments and neighborhood improvements, and to design effective senior health interventions with an emphasis on neighborhood design influences.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Three-dimensional shade analysis: perspectives of color--Part II.

In addition to outlining the fundamental principles of color and its qualitative and quantitative measurement, the first part of this article explained the chemical, physical, physiological, and psychological realization of color. To complete this discussion, the second part focuses on numerous variables that affect shade determination in the clinical chromatic environment. A contemporary shade selection system is also presented, and its systematic approach and limitations when utilized in a laboratory or clinical environment are detailed.

Adult↗