141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

275776
Health impact assessment of the development of a full service grocery store within an urban food desert

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Cynthia L. Stone, DrPH , School of Public Health, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
Sandra F. Cummings, MSW , Marion County Health Department, Indianapolis, IN
Stephen J. Clarke, PhD, MA , Dept. of Health Behavior, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Susan Hancock, MPH , School of Public Health, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
Andrea Homoya, MPH Candidate , School of Public Health, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
Neicole Young, MPH Candidate , Department of Health Policy and Management, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
Introduction The Marion County Public Health Department and the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health conducted a health impact assessment of the development of a grocery store within a low income urban community in Indianapolis. This community is designated as a federal food desert by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The dual purposes of this project were to describe the potential health impact on the community of installing a grocery store and to develop capacity for conducting HIA within the public health workforce. Methods Funding for this project was secured through the Indiana Minority Health Coalition. A baseline health assessment of the community was completed using a telephone survey, analysis of secondary datasets, key informant interviews, a neighborhood survey, focus groups, and a food environment survey using the NEMS-S. A review of the literature was conducted to establish data on other food deserts and health impact assessments in similar urban communities. Results Key community residents and decision makers also participated in the screening, scoping, recommendation and monitoring steps of the health impact assessment. A comprehensive report will be written and presented to the community. Project results and recommendations are in process, but will be available at the time of the APHA annual meeting. Discussion The assessment was also utilized to inform policy makers on city council about their decision to grant a tax- increment financing district designation for the community and for a local foundation for land use development planning decisions and for seeking additional development funds.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Identify the steps used in health impact assessment to evaluate the impact of a grocery store on a food desert. Explain recommendations from a health impact assessment used by policy makers, community members and a local foundation.

Keywords: Public Health Research, Food Security

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the PI on this project
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4171.0: Food Environment & Marketing