Team Members
- Traci Rider, PhD
- Aaron Hipp, PhD
- Kia Baker
Research Project Description
The research question guiding this grant is: How does a unique hybrid facility of a primary school and YMCA not only impact the health of the students using the facility, but also impact the health of the community at large? Post-occupancy evaluations as typically used in the built environment realm address the functioning of the building; health impact assessments address long-term health impacts of an intervention. This proposal will merge these two perspectives for a better understanding of how communities are impacted by these types of facilities and programs. This grant explores how social determinants of health can be operationalized as two important social-support environments work together, through both physical form and programming. As highly impactful building types for vulnerable children, schools and community centers must be explored jointly through lenses of design and public health to fully understand health outcomes. These spaces are also important as a catalyst for change in the larger community as a ripple effect. These questions will be explored through the lenses of architecture, public health, and community engagement. The study methodology will follow a case study protocol as outlined by Yin (2009); it is important to study specific cases in depth focusing on the question of How and Why. Yin proposes that a case study is “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context” focusing on questions framed in How and Why (Yin, 2009). The project will address equity, support community development, and facilitate change by establishing guidelines and informing policies to increase levels of health in vulnerable communities through built environments and services already present and/or planned. The community will be engaged through work with the Southeast Raleigh Promise, an advocate for this vulnerable neighborhood, and with YMCA of the Triangle and Wake County Public Schools.
Team Members
Traci Rider, PhD
Dr. Rider is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the College of Design at North Carolina State University. Her research has focused on the relationship between the design culture and the notion of sustainability, exploring factors impacting environmental attitudes of designers including environmental education, learned associations, and informal influences.
Aaron Hipp, PhD
Dr. Hipp is an Associate Professor of Community Health and Sustainability in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. His work focuses on how our built environments (home neighborhood, parks, streets, worksites, schools, etc.) impact our health and how this impact differs spatially and across populations.
Kia Baker
Ms. Baker is the Executive Director of Southeast Raleigh Promise. The mission of Southeast Raleigh Promise is to develop a cradle-to-career pipeline of services and interventions to support the children and families of Southeast Raleigh.
Issue Brief: Raleigh, NC
Discovering Health Equity and the Built Environment Through the Social Determinants of Health
