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A framework for assessing equitable health outcomes of parks: guidance for park practitioners and local leaders
A framework for assessing equitable health outcomes of parks: guidance for park practitioners and local leaders
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Burrowes, Kimberly, author
Trekson, Mark, author
Shakesprere, Jessica, author - Contributor(s):
- Urban Institute, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : Urban Institute, November 2022
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Environmental Health -- statistics & numerical data
Health Equity -- economics
Health Policy
Outcome Assessment, Health Care -- statistics & numerical data
Parks, Recreational -- economics
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Parks and green spaces contribute significantly to the health and well-being of their users, particularly users who visit frequently. Parks provide both individual and community benefits and are increasingly recognized as a key social determinant influencing individual health outcomes. The benefits of parks are maximized when parks are accessible, high quality, and designed to reflect user priorities and interests. Understanding how parks contribute to health can be complex. People spending increased time in parks can yield individual and community benefits, actual and potential benefits, and avoided health costs. Health benefits can be understood on their own terms (such as increased positive health outcomes) or framed in terms of overall economic impact. Quantifying the economic value of a park’s health contributions requires closely examining local health data, understanding of how the features of the local park system connect to local communities, measuring actual and potential health-related benefits to those communities, and translating those benefits into economic measurements of associated costs or costs avoided from park use. Not everybody is equally well placed (either in physical or socioeconomic terms) to receive the benefits of parks. This means it is important to use an equity lens to understand current benefits and the potential for future benefits accruing from more equitable access and use: benefits become amplified when a park system is more equitable and ensures different groups have adequate and quality access that meets their needs and interests and translates to actual use and realized benefits. People of color or low-income residents are less likely to use these public spaces than are white people and higher-income residents, in part because of barriers such as access or usage fees, mismatch between park programming and community needs, safety concerns, physical barriers (e.g., highways and proximity), legacies of restrictive policies that have made these spaces exclusionary or hostile, lower investment in the maintenance and operation of parks in lower-income areas, divested communities, or other barriers. Equity in Parks and Recreation: A Historical Perspective further describes how historical and present-day policies affect park access. Yet living in a neighborhood with access to green space can reduce health disparities, particularly for lower-income people and people of color. For Black and Latinx and low-income people in particular, barriers to access and use may prevent people from realizing the full benefits of parks. Their chances of receiving the rich health benefits of parks are greater when they are within 1.2 miles (or under a 22-minute walk) from one. To unlock the health benefits of park spaces for all users, local leaders, park practitioners, and advocates are working to improve equitable access and better understand who they serve. This can be challenging with limited funds and staff that are often already spread thin. In response to the growing demand for parks and green spaces and increased recognition of the wide benefits they provide, park practitioners are looking for concrete ways to demonstrate the value of park systems.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (v, 53 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918591687906676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918591687906676