The Rise of Anchor Institutions and the Threat to Community Health: Protecting Community Wealth, Building Community Power

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence T. Brown ◽  
Ashley Bachelder ◽  
Marisela B. Gomez ◽  
Alicia Sherrell ◽  
Imani Bryan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Anchor Institutions ◽  
Health Related Research ◽  
Research Parks ◽  
Wealth Building

Academic institutions are increasingly playing pivotal roles in economic development and community redevelopment in cities around the United States. Many are functioning in the role of anchor institutions and building technology, biotechnology, or research parks to facilitate biomedical research. In the process, universities often partner with local governments, implementing policies that displace entire communities and families, thereby inducing a type of trauma that researcher Mindy Thompson Fullilove has termed “root shock.” We argue that displacement is a threat to public health and explore the ethical implications of university-led displacement on public health research, especially the inclusion of vulnerable populations into health-related research. We further explicate how the legal system has sanctioned the exercise of eminent domain by private entities such as universities and developers.Strategies that communities have employed in order to counter such threats are highlighted and recommended for communities that may be under the threat of university-led displacement. We also offer a critical look at the three dominant assumptions underlying university-sponsored development: that research parks are engines of economic development, that deconcentrating poverty via displacement is effective, and that poverty is simply the lack of economic or financial means. Understanding these fallacies will help communities under the threat of university-sponsored displacement to protect community wealth, build power, and improve health.

The Perils of Partnership

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan H. Marks
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Public Bodies

Collaboration with industry has become the paradigm in public health. Governments commonly develop close relationships with companies that are creating or exacerbating the very problems public health agencies are trying to solve. Nowhere is this more evident than in partnerships with food and soda companies to address obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. The author argues that public-private partnerships and multistakeholder initiatives create webs of influence that undermine the integrity of public health agencies; distort public health research and policy; and reinforce the framing of public health problems and their solutions in ways that are least threatening to the commercial interests of corporate “partners.” We should expect multinational corporations to develop strategies of influence. But public bodies need to develop counter-strategies to insulate themselves from corporate influence in all its forms. The author reviews the ways in which we regulate public-public interactions (separation of powers) and private-private interactions (antitrust and competition laws), and argues for an analogous set of norms to govern public-private interactions. The book also offers a novel framework that is designed to help public bodies identify the systemic ethical implications of their existing or proposed relationships with industry actors. The book makes a compelling case that, in public health, the paradigm public-private interaction should be at arm’s length: separation, not collaboration. The author calls for a new paradigm to protect and promote public health while avoiding the ethical perils of partnership with industry.

Government and Fiscal Policy in American Economic History

2018 ◽  
pp. 194-224
Author(s):  
John Joseph Wallis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Payroll Taxes ◽  
The Third ◽  
State And Local

Over the last 225 years, government finances in the United States have gone through three distinct stages. In the first stage, 1790–1850, state governments actively pursued policies to promote economic development and financed them from revenues from state investments. In the second, 1850–1930, local governments became the most important level of government, as measured by revenues and expenditures, and revenues shifted toward the property tax. In the third period, 1930 to the present, the national government became the most active and largest level of government, financed through income and payroll taxes, and developed an extensive network of grants to state and local governments. The chapter tracks the changes in sources of revenues and purpose of expenditures, with specific attention paid to military spending over the entire period.

Business Improvement Districts

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Stokes ◽  
Julia Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Economic Restructuring ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Business Improvement Districts ◽  
Real Property

Business improvement districts (BIDs) are a form of special purpose government that utilize special assessments on real property to deliver services to a spatially defined commercial area. The first BIDs emerged in North America in the early to mid-1970s. They grew tremendously in the early 1990s, with some current estimates exceeding 1,500 BIDs globally as of 2018. While the legal and administrative process to create and govern BIDs varies in the United States based on state laws and local ordinances, they are typically created through a vote of affected property owners after some period of public disclosure and hearings. BIDs vary widely in their geographic size and capacity for assessment collection, ranging from $20 million-plus annual budgets and covering entire central business districts, to sub-$100,000 budgets with service areas that cover a few blocks of a neighborhood commercial strip. Assessments are typically collected by local governments and then passed on to BID operating organizations, which are usually governed by nonprofit organizations. Many BIDs also augment their assessment budgets through gifts, grants, contracts, and fees for services. These funds are used to support services that often include some mix of common area sanitation, security, marketing, and landscaping. Many large US cities have extensively used BIDs as an economic development tool, with cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles each having over forty BIDs. The growth of BIDs has been linked to set of larger of fiscal, social, and economic problems that cities faced during the era of economic restructuring and deindustrialization. BIDs filled a void left by many city governments’ inability to organize, fund, and manage services directed toward the problems facing many commercial areas, which often included crime, homelessness, and disorderly public environments. As BIDs have matured and are now a common feature of the urban landscape, they have grown in their capacities as organizations, with some comprehensive organizations fulfilling more ambitious functions related to infrastructure provision, social service coordination, urban planning, and public space management. Academic work around BIDs has been pursued by researchers and theorists across law, social science, and public affairs literatures. The dominant themes in academic work on BIDs has been organized around their various forms and functions; their accountability to the public; their effectiveness, especially in the areas of crime prevention and economic development; and social equity issues, with special attention often given to their interaction with homeless populations.

scholarly journals The Multiple Benefits of Urban Agriculture

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camille Oldani
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Societal Needs

Urban agriculture has emerged as a solution to food insecurity and other issues faced by underserved communities in urban areas. This study compares four urban food initiatives to highlight differences in implementation and success across different agricultural practices. The study also examines the varying levels of support for these initiatives in the United States and Cuba. The comparison shows that different initiatives within the urban food movement meet a unique intersection of multifaceted societal needs beyond the main goal of hunger alleviation. The main intersecting social needs that urban food initiatives can address are food accessibility, public health, and sustainable development. Moreover, different forms of governmental or non- governmental support for these initiatives influence their success and the scope of their outreach. Broader implications of this study include the importance of utilizing urban food not only as a remedy to hunger and food insecurity problems but also as a way to address public health and sustainable development goals in cities. The main findings imply a necessity for local governments to include urban agriculture initiatives in sustainability and food security plans for cities to encourage sustainable development, health, and increased food access for city residents.

Public Health in the Context of Migration: Ethics Issues Related to Immigrants and Refugees

2019 ◽  
pp. 244-256
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Fabi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
The Public ◽  
Freedom Of Movement ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Immigrant And Refugee

This chapter explores the ethics and public health issues associated with immigrant and refugee populations, both in the United States and globally. People move across borders for a variety of reasons, including the pursuit of economic opportunities, family reunification, or safety from violence. In order to engage with the public health ethics questions related to different types of migration, this chapter delves into the normative positions of cosmopolitanism, nationalism, and communitarianism. These positions are then applied to ethical issues in migration, including human rights, freedom of movement, open borders, and obligations to noncitizens. Finally, this chapter examines the ethical implications of three public health issues: immigrant health screening, immigration detention, and the provision of publicly funded health care to undocumented immigrants.

The Long-term Impact of Preventative Public Health Programs

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Hoehn-Velasco
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Programme ◽  
Childhood Exposure ◽  
Preventative Health ◽  
Long Term Impact

Abstract This paper estimates the long-term impact of childhood exposure to a preventative public health programme on adult human capital. From 1908 to 1933, local governments in the United States instituted county-level health departments (CHDs) that provided preventative health services geared towards children. This paper estimates the long-term benefits of childhood exposure to this public programme using variation in CHD location, timing and age of exposure. CHD operation before the age of 5 increases men’s later-life earnings by 2% to 5%. Exposed boys not only perform better than later- and never-treated groups, but, after adding household fixed effects, exposed men earn more than their brothers.

scholarly journals The Utility of Rural and Underserved Designations in Geospatial Assessments of Distance Traveled to Healthcare Services: Implications for Public Health Research and Practice

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Lee Smith ◽  
Justin B. Dickerson ◽  
Monica L. Wendel ◽  
SangNam Ahn ◽  
Jairus C. Pulczinski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Prescription Medication ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Health Related Research ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Central Texas ◽  
Cluster Representation ◽  
Profile Characteristics

Health disparities research in rural populations is based on several common taxonomies identified by geography and population density. However, little is known about the implications of different rurality definitions on public health outcomes. To help illuminate the meaning of different rural designations often used in research, service delivery, or policy reports, this study will (1) review the different definitions of rurality and their purposes; (2) identify the overlap of various rural designations in an eight-county Brazos Valley region in Central Texas; (3) describe participant characteristic profiles based on distances traveled to obtain healthcare services; and (4) examine common profile characteristics associated with each designation. Data were analyzed from a random sample from 1,958 Texas adults participating in a community assessment. K-means cluster analysis was used to identify natural groupings of individuals based on distance traveled to obtain three healthcare services: medical care, dental care, and prescription medication pick-up. Significant variation in cluster representation and resident characteristics was observed by rural designation. Given widely used taxonomies for designating areas as rural (or provider shortage) in health-related research, this study highlights differences that could influence research results and subsequent program and policy development based on rural designation.

scholarly journals Estimating exposure to neighborhood crime by race and ethnicity for public health research

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evans K. Lodge ◽  
Cathrine Hoyo ◽  
Carmen M. Gutierrez ◽  
Kristen M. Rappazzo ◽  
Michael E. Emch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Police Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Crime Data ◽  
Police Data ◽  
Reported Crime ◽  
Reported Data

Abstract Background Police-reported crime data (hereafter “crime”) is routinely used as a psychosocial stressor in public health research, yet few studies have jointly examined (a) differences in crime exposure based on participant race and ethnicity, (b) differences in measures of crime exposure, and (c) considerations for how exposure to police is captured in police-recorded crime data. We estimate neighborhood exposure to crime and discuss the implications of structural differences in exposure to crime and police based on race and ethnicity. Methods Using GPS coordinates from 1188 participants in the Newborn Epigenetics Study, we estimated gestational exposure to crime provided by the Durham, North Carolina, Police Department within (a) 800 m and (b) the Census block group of residence. We controlled for non-overlapping spatial boundaries in crime, Census, residential, and police data to report crime spatial (crime per km2) and population (crime per 1000 people per km2) density. Results We demonstrate dramatic disparities in exposure to crime based on participant race and ethnicity and highlight variability in these disparities based on the type of crime and crime measurement method chosen. Conclusions Public health researchers should give thoughtful consideration when using police-reported crime data to measure and model exposure to crime in the United States, as police-reported data encompasses joint exposure to police and crime in the neighborhood setting.

Conspicuously Concealed: Federal Funding, Knowledge Production, and the Criminalization of Gun Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 073112142110120
Author(s):  
Jennifer Carlson ◽  
Rina James
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Federal Funding ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Gun Policy ◽  
Popular Narrative ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Gun Debate

A popular narrative in the U.S. gun debate concerns federal funding of gun research: Because of a right-wing backlash against gun-related public health research (centered on the controversial Kellermann et al. study), federal funding of gun research has been frozen since the mid-1990s. How accurate is this popular “funding freeze” narrative—or is the federal funding of gun research better described as a “chill”? If the latter, what kinds of funding have persisted within this “chill”? Drawing on public data on funded project abstracts from 1996 to 2016 from three major federal institutes (the National Institute of Justice, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health), this paper shows that despite funding cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), federal funding for gun research has continued, especially for studies that construct the focus of their study as gun crime. Specifically, we find that a criminal justice approach to the study of guns and gun-related topics dominates the project abstracts analyzed and that this approach also casts a shadow on other approaches—especially public health and social justice approaches—to the research of guns. Examining federally funded gun research from a social constructionist lens provides insight not just into federal funding of gun research but also into the dominant framings of gun policy within the United States: criminal justice approaches to gun research may reinforce an understanding of gun violence as a problem of crime and justify criminalizing strategies in gun policy.

scholarly journals Why Re-Invent the Wheel? Social Network Approaches Can Be Used to Mitigate SARS-CoV-2 Related Disparities in Latinx Seasonal Farmworkers

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (23) ◽  
pp. 12709
Author(s):  
Mariano Kanamori ◽  
Daniel Castaneda ◽  
Kyle J. Self ◽  
Lucy Sanchez ◽  
Yesenia Rosas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Seasonal Farmworkers ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Network Approaches

Latinx seasonal farmworkers are essential workers and are at elevated risk for SARS-CoV-2 in the United States. Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 are unique to this population and include crowded living conditions, isolated social networks, and exploitative working environments. The circumstances and cultural values of Latinx seasonal farmworkers pose a unique challenge to public health authorities working to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2. This community is in dire need of urgent public health research to identify opportunities to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission: social network methods could be the solution. Using previously collected and new information provided by a team of experts, this commentary provides a brief description of Latinx seasonal farmworker disparities that affect tracking and treating SARS-CoV-2 in this important group, the challenges introduced by SARS-CoV-2, and how social network approaches learned from other infectious disease prevention strategies can address these disparities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document