A Participatory Assessment of Perceived Neighbourhood Walkability in a Small Urban Environment

Walkability has become a research topic of great concern for preserving public health, especially in the era of the COVID-19 outbreak. Today more than ever, urban and transport policies, constrained by social distancing measures and travel restrictions, must be conceptualized and implemented with a particular emphasis on sustainable walkability. Most of the walkability models apply observation and subjective methods to measure walkability, whereas few studies address walkability based on sense perception. To fill this gap, we aim at investigating the perceived neighbourhood walkability (PNW) based on sense perception in a neighbourhood of Brussels. We designed a survey that integrates 22 items grouped into 5 dimensions (cleanness, visual aesthetics, landscape and nature, feeling of pressure, feeling of safety), as well as the socio-demographic attributes of the participants. Using various statistical methods, we show that socio-demographics have almost no effects on perceived neighbourhood walkability. Nonetheless, we found significant differences between groups of different educational backgrounds. Furthermore, using a binomial regression model, we found strong associations between PNW and at least one item from each grouping dimension. Finally, we show that based on a deep neural network for classification, the items have good predictive capabilities (78% of classification accuracy). These findings can help integrate sense perception into objective measurement methods of walkable environments. Additionally, policy recommendations should be targeted based on differences of perception across socio-demographic groups.

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Distress and Resilience in the Days of COVID-19: Comparing Two Ethnicities

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17113956 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (11) ◽

pp. 3956 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Shaul Kimhi ◽

Yohanan Eshel ◽

Hadas Marciano ◽

Bruria Adini

Keyword(s):

Minority Group ◽

Well Being ◽

Internet Survey ◽

Psychological Outcome ◽

Terror Attacks ◽

Random Samples ◽

Two Samples ◽

Travel Restrictions ◽

Israeli Arabs ◽

Demographic Attributes

The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing epidemic of coronavirus disease, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome, which has spread recently worldwide. Efforts to prevent the virus from spreading include travel restrictions, lockdowns as well as national or regional quarantines throughout the international community. The major negative psychological outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic is the anxiety caused by it. The aim of the present study was to examine the level of concern and the contributions of modes of resilience, well-being and demographic attributes towards decreasing or enhancing anxiety and depression among two samples: Israeli Jews (majority group) and Israeli Arabs (minority group). These random samples included 605 Jews and 156 Arabs who participated in an internet survey. A previous study, which has been conducted in the context of terror attacks, has shown that compared to Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs expressed a higher level of fear of war and lower levels of resilience supporting personality attributes. The results of the current study indicated a similar pattern that emerged in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: the Israeli Arabs reported a higher level of distress and a lower level of resilience and well-being.

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Adapting a Participatory and Ecosystem-Based Assessment Impacted by the Pandemic: Lessons Learned With Farmers in Tajikistan

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems ◽

10.3389/fsufs.2021.750252 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Spies ◽

Axel Schick ◽

Sharofiddin Karomatov ◽

Bobozoda Bakokhoja ◽

Khaidarov Zikriyokhon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Development Project ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Knowledge Map ◽

Virtual Training ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Limited Experience ◽

Travel Restrictions ◽

Assessment Approach ◽

Participatory Assessment

The paper presents a systemic and participatory assessment approach and scrutinizes how methodological changes necessitated during the Covid-19 pandemic implicated the process and its outcomes. The approach was applied in rural Tajikistan to evaluate changes effected by a development project that promoted the enhancement of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agrarian landscapes. The central building block of the assessment consisted of participatory workshops in 2018 and 2020 with farmers and other stakeholders to develop a systemic knowledge map and to evaluate the promoted strategies based on local expertise. The methodological basis was MARISCO (adaptive MAnagement of vulnerability and RISk at COnservation sites), a holistic and participatory approach to ecosystem-based assessment and management that requires well-trained facilitators. While the activities in 2018 could be implemented as planned, major changes in the work plan were necessary in 2020 due to severe travel restrictions and social distancing rules. Conducting virtual workshops was not possible, as it would have excluded key stakeholders from the process. Instead of conducting a comprehensive assessment workshop guided by two German MARISCO facilitators as originally planned, a series of short and small workshops could be realized. These workshops were facilitated by Tajik scientists after receiving virtual training from their German colleagues. Although it was possible to bring the assessment to a satisfactory conclusion, the methodological changes revealed significant drawbacks. Radical simplifications of the methods were necessary that led to reduced depth of the assessment and missed learning opportunities for participants. Limited experience in workshop guidance by the new facilitators posed challenges to the participatory process and the quality of its outcomes. While the adapted method created training effects that would otherwise have been missed, it also put additional pressure on the capacities of local partners. Our experience during the pandemic offers valuable lessons learned for future applications of systemic-participatory approaches. Whereas, a complete shift to remote applications is problematic, there is a need to put greater emphasis on capacitating local partners. Methodological trade-offs are necessary for partially remote working processes, but principles of participation and systemic thinking should not be compromised.

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Parenting Contributions to Latinx Children’s Development in the Early Years

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ◽

10.1177/00027162211049997 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 696 (1) ◽

pp. 158-178

Author(s):

Natasha J. Cabrera ◽

Angelica Alonso ◽

Yu Chen

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Years ◽

Policy Recommendations ◽

Positive Outcomes ◽

Social Stressors ◽

Demographic Groups ◽

Demographic Heterogeneity ◽

Strength Based ◽

Family Level ◽

The Individual

Despite comparatively high levels of poverty, Latinx parents, on average, provide their children with early home experiences that promote development at rates that at least equal that of other demographic groups. From a strength-based perspective, we describe the demographic heterogeneity among Latinx children during early childhood (zero to eight years), given that these years are critical for later development. We then discuss the individual- and family-level factors that promote positive outcomes in Latinx children despite the presence of economic and social stressors. We synthesize these findings to generate policy recommendations that support Latinx families and children by addressing their specific needs and building on the strengths they already possess.

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Modeling non-pharmaceutical interventions in the COVID-19 pandemic with survey-based simulations

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0259108 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (10) ◽

pp. e0259108

Author(s):

Marius Kaffai ◽

Raphael H. Heiberger

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Age Groups ◽

Representative Survey ◽

Home Office ◽

Infected People ◽

Demographic Groups ◽

Federal States ◽

Demographic Attributes ◽

The Impact ◽

Pharmaceutical Interventions

Governments around the globe use non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. Making decisions under uncertainty, they all face the same temporal paradox: estimating the impact of NPIs before they have been implemented. Due to the limited variance of empirical cases, researchers could so far not disentangle effects of individual NPIs or their impact on different demographic groups. In this paper, we utilize large-scale agent-based simulations in combination with Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) models to investigate the spread of COVID-19 for some of the most affected federal states in Germany. In contrast to other studies, we sample agents from a representative survey. Including more realistic demographic attributes that influence agents’ behavior yields accurate predictions of COVID-19 transmissions and allows us to investigate counterfactual what-if scenarios. Results show that quarantining infected people and exploiting industry-specific home office capacities are the most effective NPIs. Disentangling education-related NPIs reveals that each considered institution (kindergarten, school, university) has rather small effects on its own, yet, that combined openings would result in large increases in COVID-19 cases. Representative survey-characteristics of agents also allow us to estimate NPIs’ effects on different age groups. For instance, re-opening schools would cause comparatively few infections among the risk-group of people older than 60 years.

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Modeling non-pharmaceutical interventions in the COVID-19 pandemic with survey-based simulations

10.1101/2021.04.16.21255606 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marius Kaffai ◽

Raphael H. Heiberger

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Age Groups ◽

Representative Survey ◽

Home Office ◽

Infected People ◽

Demographic Groups ◽

Federal States ◽

Demographic Attributes ◽

The Impact ◽

Pharmaceutical Interventions

AbstractGovernments around the globe use non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. Making decisions under uncertainty, they all face the same temporal paradox: estimating the impact of NPIs before they have been implemented. Due to the limited variance of empirical cases, researcher could so far not disentangle effects of individual NPIs or their impact on different demographic groups. In this paper, we utilize large-scale agent-based simulations in combination with Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) models to investigate the spread of COVID-19 for some of the most affected federal states in Germany. In contrast to other studies, we sample agents from a representative survey. Including more realistic demographic attributes that influence agents’ behavior yields accurate predictions of COVID-19 transmissions and allows us to investigate counterfactual “what-if” scenarios. Results show that quarantining infected people and exploiting industry-specific home office capacities are the most effective NPIs. Disentangling education-related NPIs reveals that each considered institution (kindergarten, school, university) has rather small effects on its own, yet, that combined openings would result in large increases in COVID-19 cases. Representative survey-characteristics of agents also allow us to estimate NPIs’ effects on different age groups. For instance, re-opening schools would cause comparatively few infections among the risk-group of people older than 60 years.

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Fatality of Suicide Attempts in Amsterdam 1996–2005

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910.30.4.180 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 180-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Evertjan Jansen ◽

Marcel C.A. Buster ◽

Annemarie L. Zuur ◽

Cees Das

Keyword(s):

Health Service ◽

Time Trends ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

Preventive Measures ◽

Case Fatality ◽

Absolute Number ◽

Demographic Differences ◽

Demographic Groups ◽

Wish To Die ◽

Municipal Health

Background: According to recent figures, Amsterdam is the municipality with the highest absolute number of suicides and the second highest suicide rate in the Netherlands. Aims: The aim of the study was to identify time trends and demographic differences in the occurrence of nonfatal suicide attempts versus suicides. Methods: We used registrations of forensic physicians and ambulance services of the Municipal Health Service of Amsterdam to study 1,004 suicides and 6,166 nonfatal attempts occurring in Amsterdam over the period 1996–2005. Results: The number of nonfatal attempts declined from 1996 to 2005, but the number of completed suicides remained relatively stable. Although case fatality was strongly associated with method used, we also found higher case fatalities for men and older people independent of method. Conclusions: The case fatality results suggest differences in motive among different demographic groups: possibly the wish to die is stronger among men and elderly. This finding had implications for the success to be expected from different preventive measures.

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