Citation

Jutte DP, LeWinn KZ, Hutson MA, Dare R, Falk J. Health Aff. (Hope) 2011; 30(11): 2072-2078.

Affiliation

Division of Community Health and Human Development, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, USA. dpjutte@berkeley.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Project HOPE - The People-to-People Health Foundation)

DOI

10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0701

PMID

22068398

PMCID

PMC4096893

Abstract

Tens of billions of dollars-both public and private-flow to low-income communities each year, mostly for affordable housing. However, it is rare for the health effects of these investments to be assessed. In San Francisco, California, a collaborative effort is under way that aims to fill this research gap while helping residents of Sunnydale, the city's largest public housing project, where poverty, violence, and truancy are entrenched. The collaboration is in its earliest stages-with construction not scheduled to start for at least four years-but some early lessons have emerged. For example, researchers and community developers have found that their data collection needs and timeline expectations often don't match. Nevertheless, the collaborators intend to use the long period before groundbreaking to establish baseline measurements of residents' social and physical well-being, plan initiatives in collaboration with community members and stakeholders, and seek funding for the initiatives and a longitudinal evaluation of the community.

Language: en