The Effectiveness of Healthy Community Approaches on Positive Health Outcomes in Canada and the United States

Hazel Williams-Roberts, Bonnie Jeffery, Shanthi Johnson and Nazeem Muhajarine
Additional contact information
Hazel Williams-Roberts: Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5E5, Canada
Bonnie Jeffery: Faculty of Social Work, Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit, University of Regina, Prince Albert Campus, Saskatchewan S6V 7S3, Canada
Shanthi Johnson: Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
Nazeem Muhajarine: Community Health and Epidemiology, Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5E5, Canada

Social Sciences, 2015, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: Healthy community approaches encompass a diverse group of population based strategies and interventions that create supportive environments, foster community behavior change and improve health. This systematic review examined the effectiveness of ten most common healthy community approaches (Healthy Cities/Communities, Smart Growth, Child Friendly Cities, Safe Routes to Schools, Safe Communities, Active Living Communities, Livable Communities, Social Cities, Age-Friendly Cities, and Dementia Friendly Cities) on positive health outcomes. Empirical studies were identified through a search of the academic and grey literature for the period 2000–2014. Of the 231 articles retrieved, 26 met the inclusion criteria with four receiving moderate quality ratings and 22 poor ratings using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool. The majority of studies evaluated Safe Routes to School Programs and reported positive associations with students’ active commute patterns. Fewer studies assessed benefits of Smart Growth, Safe Communities, Active Living Communities and Age-Friendly Cities. The remaining approaches were relatively unexplored in terms of their health benefits however focused on conceptual frameworks and collaborative processes. More robust studies with longer follow-up duration are needed. Priority should be given to evaluation of healthy community projects to show their effectiveness within the population health context.

Keywords: effectiveness; healthy community approaches; health outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/5/1/3/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/5/1/3/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:5:y:2015:i:1:p:3-:d:61460

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().