TY - JOUR
T1 - INTERACT
T2 - A comprehensive approach to assess urban form interventions through natural experiments
AU - Kestens, Yan
AU - Winters, Meghan
AU - Fuller, Daniel
AU - Bell, Scott
AU - Berscheid, Janelle
AU - Brondeel, Ruben
AU - Cantinotti, Michael
AU - Datta, Geetanjali
AU - Gauvin, Lise
AU - Gough, Margot
AU - Laberee, Karen
AU - Lewis, Paul
AU - Lord, Sébastien
AU - Luan, Hui
AU - McKay, Heather
AU - Morency, Catherine
AU - Muhajarine, Nazeem
AU - Nelson, Trisalyn
AU - Ottoni, Callista
AU - Stephens, Zoe Poirier
AU - Pugh, Caitlin
AU - Rancourt, Gabrielle
AU - Shareck, Martin
AU - Sims-Gould, Joanie
AU - Sones, Meridith
AU - Stanley, Kevin
AU - Thierry, Benoit
AU - Thigpen, Calvin
AU - Wasfi, Rania
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Author(s).
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - Background: Urban form interventions can result in positive and negative impacts on physical activity, social participation, and well-being, and inequities in these outcomes. Natural experiment studies can advance our understanding of causal effects and processes related to urban form interventions. The INTErventions, Research, and Action in Cities Team (INTERACT) is a pan-Canadian collaboration of interdisciplinary scientists, urban planners, and public health decision makers advancing research on the design of healthy and sustainable cities for all. Our objectives are to use natural experiment studies to deliver timely evidence about how urban form interventions influence health, and to develop methods and tools to facilitate such studies going forward. Methods: INTERACT will evaluate natural experiments in four Canadian cities: the Arbutus Greenway in Vancouver, British Columbia; the All Ages and Abilities Cycling Network in Victoria, BC; a new Bus Rapid Transit system in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and components of the Sustainable Development Plan 2016-2020 in Montreal, Quebec, a plan that includes urban form changes initiated by the city and approximately 230 partnering organizations. We will recruit a cohort of between 300 and 3000 adult participants, age 18 or older, in each city and collect data at three time points. Participants will complete health and activity space surveys and provide sensor-based location and physical activity data. We will conduct qualitative interviews with a subsample of participants in each city. Our analysis methods will combine machine learning methods for detecting transportation mode use and physical activity, use temporal Geographic Information Systems to quantify changes to urban intervention exposure, and apply analytic methods for natural experiment studies including interrupted time series analysis. Discussion: INTERACT aims to advance the evidence base on population health intervention research and address challenges related to big data, knowledge mobilization and engagement, ethics, and causality. We will collect ~ 100 TB of sensor data from participants over 5 years. We will address these challenges using interdisciplinary partnerships, training of highly qualified personnel, and modern methodologies for using sensor-based data.
AB - Background: Urban form interventions can result in positive and negative impacts on physical activity, social participation, and well-being, and inequities in these outcomes. Natural experiment studies can advance our understanding of causal effects and processes related to urban form interventions. The INTErventions, Research, and Action in Cities Team (INTERACT) is a pan-Canadian collaboration of interdisciplinary scientists, urban planners, and public health decision makers advancing research on the design of healthy and sustainable cities for all. Our objectives are to use natural experiment studies to deliver timely evidence about how urban form interventions influence health, and to develop methods and tools to facilitate such studies going forward. Methods: INTERACT will evaluate natural experiments in four Canadian cities: the Arbutus Greenway in Vancouver, British Columbia; the All Ages and Abilities Cycling Network in Victoria, BC; a new Bus Rapid Transit system in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and components of the Sustainable Development Plan 2016-2020 in Montreal, Quebec, a plan that includes urban form changes initiated by the city and approximately 230 partnering organizations. We will recruit a cohort of between 300 and 3000 adult participants, age 18 or older, in each city and collect data at three time points. Participants will complete health and activity space surveys and provide sensor-based location and physical activity data. We will conduct qualitative interviews with a subsample of participants in each city. Our analysis methods will combine machine learning methods for detecting transportation mode use and physical activity, use temporal Geographic Information Systems to quantify changes to urban intervention exposure, and apply analytic methods for natural experiment studies including interrupted time series analysis. Discussion: INTERACT aims to advance the evidence base on population health intervention research and address challenges related to big data, knowledge mobilization and engagement, ethics, and causality. We will collect ~ 100 TB of sensor data from participants over 5 years. We will address these challenges using interdisciplinary partnerships, training of highly qualified personnel, and modern methodologies for using sensor-based data.
KW - Accelerometer
KW - Equity
KW - GPS
KW - Natural experiment
KW - Physical activity
KW - Social participation
KW - Urban form intervention
KW - Well-being
KW - big data
KW - public health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059829611&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85059829611&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12889-018-6339-z
DO - 10.1186/s12889-018-6339-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 30630441
AN - SCOPUS:85059829611
SN - 1471-2458
VL - 19
JO - BMC public health
JF - BMC public health
IS - 1
M1 - 51
ER -