Primary Submission Category: Health equity
A socio-spatial approach: Linking U.S. ethnic and racial neighborhood diversity to the health outcomes of bicycling
Authors: Brianna Chan
Presenting Author: Brianna Chan*
Abstract: Commuting by bicycling can improve individuals’ overall health and sense of well-being, and has been specifically linked to reduced rates of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. However, normalized social perceptions (e.g. of bicycling as a white male-dominated activity) present barriers to bicycling for ethnic and racial minority individuals residing in majority-white neighborhoods. A socio-spatial approach allows for consideration of environmental and social factors that may moderate the relationship between bicycle commuting and health outcomes. Importantly, this perspective emphasizes how social culture contextualizes many human-environment relationships and impacts people differently based on their demographic characteristics, including socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, education level, age, and gender.
Hypothesis: Higher levels of ethnic and racial diversity of a neighborhood will contribute to better overall health outcomes linked to bicycling commutes, due to the moderating effect that racial and ethnic representation can have on improving the sense of belonging minority groups may feel in the bicycling sphere.
Objective: To describe associations between population health outcomes and bicycling in ethnically/racially diverse and more homogeneous neighborhoods.
Methods: This study will analyze survey data collected from 2010 to 2021 at the tract level in United States metropolitan areas. Health will be measured by chronic disease rates and self-perceived well-being using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Bicycle commuting data and demographic data will be provided by the American Community Survey.
Significance: Overall, this research will provide a greater understanding of the contextual factors that contribute to health disparities, as well as provide further support for integrating social and health equity in our neighborhoods.