Get Wheelin' in Westlawn: Mounting a Bicycling Program in a Low-Income Minority Urban Community

Sports

Anne Dressel¹  Michael Steinborn²  Keith Holt³ 

[1]College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA

[2]Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, 5560 N. 64^th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53218, USA

[3] E-Mail:

[4]Milwaukee Bicycle Works, 2015 N. 51^st Street, Milwaukee, WI 53208, USA

[5] E-Mail:

关键词: bicycling;    African-American;    community-based participatory action;    health disparities;   

DOI  :  10.3390/sports2040131

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, the Westlawn neighborhood is home to the State of Wisconsin’s largest public housing development. Westlawn is a low-income, African-American urban community that suffers from a wide range of health and environmental disparities. A community-based participatory action (CBPA) team was formed to address environmental health issues in Westlawn, and found asthma rates there are among the highest in the State. Decreasing air pollution, and corresponding asthma triggers, became a priority for the community. The CBPA team developed a bicycling program to reduce trips made by car and improve air quality in the Westlawn neighborhood. Input from focus group meetings shaped the development, implementation and expansion of the bicycling program. While the program was originally conceived to address environmental health issues, it provided key findings about how to encourage bicycling in low-income minority urban communities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.