Resident Researcher, Carl Baty, shares how the Healthy Neighborhoods Study is turning research into action and disagreements into long-lasting friendships in his community.
I grew up in communities that needed environmental justice the most. I also lived in neighborhoods that already had the resources and ability to make change. Still, I didn’t understand the difference or know what the environmental world called the movement until later in life. I could only connect the dots when I had more access to education and a framework for understanding the issue.
This Field Guide describes how the partners in the Healthy Neighborhoods Study do research in 9 communities in Greater Metropolitan Boston. The project uses the Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, which is grounded in the idea that the people who are most impacted by a problem are in the best position to understand and solve that problem. After years of research together, we wrote this guide for other communities interested in Participatory Action Research.
CLF’s Healthy Neighborhoods Study is powered by resident researchers, who play a key role in designing and conducting the study and in sharing it with their neighbors. Cliff Bennett, JoAnn Diaz, and Mela Miles, part of the research team on the ground in Roxbury, discuss what the survey means for their community.
A shared understanding of the challenges created by gentrification help Lynn residents come together and fight for healthy housing.
CLF’s Healthy Neighborhoods Study shows that health goes beyond one’s diet or exercise regime. A healthy community has engaged, active residents who believe they can influence changes in their neighborhood that directly impact their lives. In 2018, our data found that health is linked to social support, housing stability, and even civic engagement and community… Continue reading Researchers Bring the Power of Data Home
We know that where you live matters for your health. Our community partners understand this firsthand because they live it every day. This past summer, the communities that participated in our Healthy Neighborhoods Study – Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, New Bedford, Fall River, Brockton, Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan – turned that research data into action by sharing the results to make a difference where they live.
The Healthy Neighborhoods Study examines the relationship between neighborhood change and population health in nine Massachusetts neighborhoods. Baseline data from the survey show that participants believed certain social factors would improve their lives.
A lack of resources on community research design is an impediment to more community-engaged research. This article describes how a consortium of community residents, grassroots community organizations, and academic and public institutions implemented collaborative research design and data analysis processes as part of a participatory action research (PAR) study investigating the relationship between neighborhoods and health in the greater Boston area.
Leilani Mroczkowski is a Community Engagement Coordinator for GreenRoots. I’m always struck by how open people are to sharing their stories. Usually, all you have to do is ask. But what’s more important is to listen. On a hot summer evening this past August, I joined five young researchers in the GreenRoots Environmental Chelsea Organizers… Continue reading Building Stronger Communities from The Ground Up
