SPEA Centers to Host Diversity Scholars

INDIANAPOLIS – A group of scholars, including an IUPUI faculty member, whose research projects are funded by an Active Living Research (ALR) program supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will gather on the campus of IUPUI.

The summer meeting of the Diversity Partnership grantees, hosted by the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs Centers for Urban Policy and Health Policy, on July 31 and August 1 at the University Place Conference Center and Hotel, has several goals. Among them are:

• Provide opportunities for Diversity Partnership grantees to present work to colleagues and practitioners and get feedback on research plan and progress.
• Create opportunities for partners to link to policy makers.
• Provide professional development offerings to enhance research careers of grantees.

Robert Brown, a Criminal Justice faculty member, received a $40,000 grant to analyze crime as a barrier to physical activity, incorporating crime measures in trail use models.

Active Living Research supports research to examine relationships between policy issues, characteristics of natural and built environments, and personal levels of physical activity. Findings are expected to inform environmental and policy changes that will promote active living among Americans.

From elevators and drive-thru restaurants to cul-de-sac suburbs and strip malls, Americans have become more sedentary, with over one in four Americans currently getting no activity at all in an average day. Not surprisingly, rates of obesity and related health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer are increasing at alarming levels.

To address obesity and associated health issues, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is sponsoring a coordinated response to find creative approaches for re-integrating physical activity into American life.

“Active living” is a way of life that integrates physical activity into daily routines. The goal is to accumulate at least 30 minutes of activity each day. Individuals may do this in a variety of ways, such as walking or bicycling for transportation, exercise or pleasure; playing in the park; working in the yard; taking the stairs; and using recreation facilities.

Rather than addressing obesity as an individual health problem, this new, transdisciplinary field of active living is focusing on how the built environment — including neighborhoods, transportation systems, buildings, parks and open space — can promote more active lives.

With Diversity Partnership grants, Active Living Research awarded funds to enhance the quality and scope of existing Active Living Research projects. Each Diversity Partnership Grant enhances one or more aspects of an existing study and adds an investigator with a special background and understanding of understudied populations and/or communities. These grants are designed to increase the diversity of the community of investigators in the field of active living research.

Brown’s research is examining how crime and safety levels can serve as potential barriers to outdoor physical activity. The project is designed to explore the relationship between actual crime and perceptions of crime in trail neighborhoods and trail use. Using data from local police records, neighborhood resident surveys, and infrared trail monitors, Brown will be adding data of crime and disorder to a trail use model of an existing Active Living Research grant, Modeling Urban Greenway Use by Greg Lindsey, associate dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI. The goal of this project is to enhance the current model and to better inform policy makers and practitioners on how crime-related issues affect trail use and physical activity levels.