Roles of Parks and Housing in the Health and Well-Being of Miami Medicare/Medicaid Beneficiaries

Background. Addressing the critical impact of neighborhood environment characteristics on health, particularly among our older and low-income populations, this presentation describes a collaboration with the Miami Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department (MDPROS) based on a study funded by a U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Sustainable Communities Research Grant, with supplemental funding from the Health Foundation of South Florida.

Methods. The study examines the relationship of built environment factors for the approximately 36,000 Census blocks of neighborhood area for 750,000 Miami-Dade County Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries.  Using walkability variables such as land-use mix, transit, and parks for each participant's effective neighborhood area, the study relates participants' illness burden and associated health-care costs to the neighborhood built environment profiles. The team also uses Walkscore.com, a nationally available metric of walkability to test the hypotheses that more walkable environments are associated with better health and lower health-care costs in greater Miami. Focusing more closely on park proximity and vegetation as measured through the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the study team identifies at-risk neighborhoods with respect to park access. The collaborative team is developing interventional strategies that can increase park accessibility and enhance health outcomes for vulnerable populations.

Conclusions. The interdisciplinary linking of researchers, planners and policy-makers in housing and parks  enables decision-making process that can be informed by real-time data to support HUD voucher programs through enhanced housing choices, and strategic interventions for streetscape and park planning and programs, more specifically coordinated to benefit public health.