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Purpose

The study is evaluating the effectiveness of an implementation strategy called Neighborhood Connect, which is designed to support residents' engagement in activities that improve the attractiveness, safety and livability of Worcester, MA neighborhoods. The program focuses on the built environment (i.e., the human-made, physical surroundings of Worcester neighborhoods including indoor public places and outdoor spaces like parks, streets and sidewalks) and aims to build capacity of community members to strengthen their neighborhoods. Participants will include residents and others who care about local built environment conditions. Neighborhood Connect is delivered by a built environment specialist from the local health department in collaboration with a statewide coalition.

Condition

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Over 18 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • Live, work or have other connection to specific areas of Worcester, MA; - Speak English or Spanish

Exclusion Criteria

  • Don't speak English or Spanish; - Have a cognitive deficit that precludes participation

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Sequential Assignment
Intervention Model Description
The study uses a stepped wedge design, with 8 different clusters (neighborhoods/areas) rolled out sequentially in 4 waves.
Primary Purpose
Other
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Neighborhood Connect implementation strategy 		All participants receive the Neighborhood Connect implementation strategy. It is deployed to all participants in a given wave (neighborhood/area) at once. Order of implementaiton of the intervention is determined by neighborhood/area-level randomization.
  • Other: Neighborhood Connect
    Neighborhood Connect is an implementation strategy designed to prepare participants to make built environment changes that promote healthy communities, including social connectedness, physical activity, traffic safety, etc. The program is generic and allows participants to identify their own priorities for built environment change. The curriculum includes six Zoom-based educational sessions delivered by a built environment specialist with a member of a walking coalition, participation in a neighborhood audit, creation of a plan for change and ability to receive technical assistance after the formal program is completed. The built environment specialist receives training and technical assistance for leading the resident-focused implementation strategy.
Other
Pre-implementation 		Within this stepped wedge design, each individual serves as their own comparator. Data from the pre-implementation phase will be collected for this purpose.
  • Other: Neighborhood Connect
    Neighborhood Connect is an implementation strategy designed to prepare participants to make built environment changes that promote healthy communities, including social connectedness, physical activity, traffic safety, etc. The program is generic and allows participants to identify their own priorities for built environment change. The curriculum includes six Zoom-based educational sessions delivered by a built environment specialist with a member of a walking coalition, participation in a neighborhood audit, creation of a plan for change and ability to receive technical assistance after the formal program is completed. The built environment specialist receives training and technical assistance for leading the resident-focused implementation strategy.

Recruiting Locations

University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Worcester, Massachusetts 01655
Contact:
Stephenie C Lemon, PhD, MS
5088261325
Stephenie.Lemon@Umassmed.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
University of Massachusetts, Worcester

Study Contact

Stephenie C Lemon, PhD, MS
15088564098
Stephenie.Lemon@Umassmed.edu

Detailed Description

The study is the core research project of the Prevention Research Center at UMass Chan. Under the guidance of a Community Advisory Board, the program aims to build capacity of the local health department and local residents to influence built environment change in neighborhoods. The program includes a training and technical assistance approach. The local health department built environment specialist learns about the built environment and how to determine how related decisions are made. The built environment specialist delivers the Zoom-based group program for residents. This six session training and technical assistance model includes 3 components: Connect with Community, Connect with Environment and Connect with Process. Through Neighborhood Connect's structured learning and applied activities, participants: Strengthen interpersonal connections and social networks within neighborhoods, Explore their neighborhoods and identify their priorities for change or improvement, Learn how decision-making processes affect their communities and Collaborate on ideas for small-scale neighborhood improvements. The implementation strategy is being evaluated in a mixed methods study. Through a stepped wedge design with 8 waves (neighborhood/area) rolled out in 4 steps (2 neighborhoods/areas per wave), the resident-focused component of Neighborhood Connect is being evaluated. Both the resident and health department components are being evaluated using qualitative methods.

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.