Identifying Local Level Strategies: North Carolina County Commissioners' Perceptions of Firearm Violence Prevention Interventions.

Firearm violence continues to be a national public health issue. The objective of this study was to collect baseline data regarding North Carolina County Commissioners' perceptions of firearm violence and potential local level interventions. A cross-sectional study of NC County Commissioners (n = 582) was conducted to investigate the research questions. The top 5 firearm violence prevention interventions that would be supported by NC County Commissioners included offering gun safety classes for adults (88.5%), implementing public education campaigns to promote responsible firearm storage (86.0%), developing courtroom processes that ensure domestic abusers turn in their guns as required by law (83.2%), adopting a standard policy of tracing all crime guns (79.4%), and providing firearm violence prevention programs for at-risk neighborhoods and individuals (72.2%). North Carolina County Commissioners perceived lack of understanding regarding which interventions would be most effective as the greatest barrier to supporting various types of firearm violence prevention interventions (50.3%).

Legacies of Environmental Injustice on Neighborhood Violence, Poverty and Active Living in an African American Community.

Features of the built environment such as parks and open spaces contribute to increased physical activity in populations, while living in neighborhoods with high poverty, racial/ethnic segregation, presence of neighborhood problems, and violence has been associated with less active living. Our present study examined the factors that may facilitate or hinder the long-term success of built environment interventions aimed at promoting physical activity in communities with a legacy of environmental injustice. The data for this study came from a larger assessment of the impact of a new local park in Newark, NJ. Analysis included all adults from the original study population who self-identified as African American/Black (N=95). To provide an in-depth understanding of how neighborhood social and physical features influence physical activity among African Americans living in high poverty neighborhoods, we analyzed data from two focus groups with a total of 14 participants, and six in-depth interviews held in 2009-2010. Survey results indicated high exposure to violence, and associations between neighborhood features and walking. Self-reported neighborhood walkability was associated with increased walking (P=.01), while increased perception of neighborhood safety was associated with less walking (P=.01). Qualitative results indicated that residents perceived the new park as a positive change, but also expressed concern about the presence of violence and lack of social cohesion among neighbors, with younger generations expressing less optimism than the elderly. Positive changes associated with improvements to the built environment may be limited by social conditions such as neighborhood violence. These mixed findings suggest that policies and initiatives aimed at improving the built environment should address poverty, safety, and social cohesion to ensure more active living communities.

Incorporating Health Equity and Community Perspectives During COVID-19: Commonalities with Cardiovascular Health Equity Research.

The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing the deeply entrenched structural inequities in health that exist in the United States. We draw parallels between the COVID-19 pandemic and our cardiovascular health equity research focused on physical activity and diabetes to highlight three common needs: 1) access to timely and disaggregated data; 2) how to integrate community-engaged approaches in telehealth; and 3) policy initiatives that explicitly integrate health equity and social justice principles and action. We suggest that a similar sense of urgency regarding COVID-19 should be applied to slow the burgeoning costs and suffering associated with cardiovascular disease overall and in marginalized communities specifically. We remain hopeful that the current crisis can serve as a guide for aligning our principles as a just and democratic society with a health agenda that explicitly recognizes that social inequities in health for some impacts all members of society.