A community’s built environment can influence key health behaviors. Rural populations experience significant health disparities, yet built environment studies in these settings are limited. This project explored the use of an innovative, participatory, e-tablet-based community assessment tool, The Discovery Tool, to conduct built environment audits in rural settings. The Discovery Tool was developed by researchers at Stanford University as the ‘Stanford Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool’ and originally developed and tested for use in urban communities.
The objective of this project was to address the gap in knowledge around rural built environment characteristics by conducting formative research with residents in four rural towns in central upstate New York. We evaluated the utility of the Discovery Tool in identifying barriers and facilitators to healthy eating and active living in a rural context. The second objective was to understand resident perspectives on community features and opportunities for improvement.
Project products by New York County: Chenango County, Delaware County, Herkimer County, and Schoharie County
Funding: Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research
Seguin-Fowler Research 