Examining the impacts of public transit on healthy aging through a natural experiment: study protocols and lessons learned from the Active El Paso project

Frontiers in Public Health

Public Health

Ashley M. Toney¹  Leah Whigham¹  Xuemei Zhu²  Eufemia B. Garcia³  Marcia G. Ory⁴  Samuel D. Towne Jr⁵  Jorge Ibarra⁶  Sinan Zhong⁶  Sungmin Lee⁶  Chanam Lee⁶  Wei Li⁷  Minjie Xu⁸  Suojin Wang⁹  Rafael Aldrete^1,10 

[1] Center for Community Health Impact and Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, El Paso, TX, United States;Center for Health Systems and Design, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Department of Architecture, School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Colonias Program, School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Center for Community Health and Aging, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;School of Global Health Management and Informatics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, United States;Disability, Aging, and Technology Cluster, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, United States;Southwest Rural Health Research Center, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Center for Community Health and Aging, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Center for Health Systems and Design, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Center for Health Systems and Design, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Center for Housing and Urban Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Center for Health Systems and Design, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Austin and El Paso, TX, United States;Department of Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States;Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Austin and El Paso, TX, United States;

关键词: natural experiment;    healthy aging;    public transit;    obesity;    physical activity;    public health;    community health;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2023.1132190

 received in 2022-12-27, accepted in 2023-07-03,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

This paper describes protocols and experiences from a seven-year natural-experiment study in El Paso, Texas, a border city of predominantly Latino/Hispanic population. The study focuses on how Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) impacts physical activity and thus plays a role in alleviating obesity and related chronic diseases that impact healthy aging. Our protocols describe a longitudinal and case-comparison study, which compared residents exposed to new BRT stations with those who were not. This paper also introduces lessons and experiences to overcome the following challenges: delays in the BRT opening (the main intervention), the COVID-19 pandemic, methodological challenges, participant recruitment and retention, and predatory survey takers. Our transdisciplinary approach was pivotal in addressing these challenges. We also proposed and tested multi-level intervention strategies to reduce modifiable barriers to transit use. Our most important takeaway for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers is the importance of being flexible and ready to adapt to new circumstances. Future natural-experiment researchers need to become more versatile in an increasingly volatile and uncertain world.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Li, Lee, Zhong, Xu, Towne, Zhu, Lee, Wang, Aldrete, Garcia, Whigham, Toney, Ibarra and Ory.