Intermediary roles in regulatory programs: Toward a role-based framework

This paper develops a role-based framework of intermediaries in regulatory programs. In examining the types of roles that organizations adopt in regulation and governance, we argue that roles have important implications for understanding organizational and program level dynamism and outcomes. We utilize the Regulator-Intermediary-rule Taker framework (Abbott, Levi-Faur, & Snidal, 2017a; 2017b) to describe how organizational roles can be adopted through assignment, appropriation, or promotion. We then go deeper into how intermediaries adopt a variety of different roles in key regulatory programs. We examine generic intermediary roles across programs that involve four main groups of activities: Creating and/or organizing, coordinating between programs, supporting implementation, and voicing an opinion. All in all, our role-based framework allows for a novel relational way to understand interorganizational and institutional dynamism in complex, interactive, and ever-changing regulatory regimes

The mPower Study, Parkinson Disease Mobile Data Collected Using Researchkit

Current measures of health and disease are often insensitive, episodic, and subjective. Further, these measures generally are not designed to provide meaningful feedback to individuals. The impact of high-resolution activity data collected from mobile phones is only beginning to be explored. Here we present data from mPower, a clinical observational study about Parkinson disease conducted purely through an iPhone app interface. The study interrogated aspects of this movement disorder through surveys and frequent sensor-based recordings from participants with and without Parkinson disease. Benefitting from large enrollment and repeated measurements on many individuals, these data may help establish baseline variability of real-world activity measurement collected via mobile phones, and ultimately may lead to quantification of the ebbs-and-flows of Parkinson symptoms. App source code for these data collection modules are available through an open source license for use in studies of other conditions. We hope that releasing data contributed by engaged research participants will seed a new community of analysts working collaboratively on understanding mobile health data to advance human health

Not Just A Walk in The Park: methodological improvements for determining environmental justice implications of park access in New York City for the promotion of physical activity

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that access to parks in New York City is not equitable across racial and ethnic categories. It builds on previous research that has linked access to parks and open space with increased physical activity, which in turn may reduce the risk for adverse health outcomes related to obesity. Systematic patterns of uneven access to parks might help to explain disparities in these health outcomes across sociodemographic populations that are not fully explained by individual-level risk factors and health behaviors, and therefore access to parks becomes an environmental justice issue. This study is designed to shed light on the “unpatterned inequities” of park distributions identified in previous studies of New York City park access. It uses a combination of network analysis and a cadastral-based expert dasymetric system (CEDS) to estimate the racial/ethnic composition of populations within a reasonable walking distance of 400m from parks. The distance to the closest park, number of parks within walking distance, amount of accessible park space, and number of physical activity sites are then evaluated across racial/ethnic categories, and are compared to the city-wide populations using odds ratios. The odds ratios revealed patterns that at first glance appear to contradict the notion of distributional inequities. However, discussion of the results points to the need for reassessing what is meant by “access” to more thoroughly consider the aspects of parks that are most likely to contribute to physical activity and positive health outcomes

The complexities of measuring access to parks and physical activity sites in New York City: a quantitative and qualitative approach

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Proximity to parks and physical activity sites has been linked to an increase in active behaviors, and positive impacts on health outcomes such as lower rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Since populations with a low socio-economic status as well as racial and ethnic minorities tend to experience worse health outcomes in the USA, access to parks and physical activity sites may be an environmental justice issue. Geographic Information systems were used to conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses of park accessibility in New York City, which included kernel density estimation, ordinary least squares (global) regression, geographically weighted (local) regression, and longitudinal case studies, consisting of field work and archival research. Accessibility was measured by both density of park acreage and density of physical activity sites. Independent variables included percent non-Hispanic black, percent Hispanic, percent below poverty, percent of adults without high school diploma, percent with limited English-speaking ability, and population density.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ordinary least squares linear regression found weak relationships in both the park acreage density and the physical activity site density models (R_a²= .11 and .23, respectively; AIC = 7162 and 3529, respectively). Geographically weighted regression, however, suggested spatial non-stationarity in both models, indicating disparities in accessibility that vary over space with respect to magnitude and directionality of the relationships (AIC = 2014 and -1241, respectively). The qualitative analysis supported the findings of the local regression, confirming that although there is a geographically inequitable distribution of park space and physical activity sites, it is not globally predicted by race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses demonstrated the complexity of the issues around racial and ethnic disparities in park access. They revealed trends that may not have been otherwise detectable, such as the spatially inconsistent relationship between physical activity site density and socio-demographics. In order to establish a more stable global model, a number of additional factors, variables, and methods might be used to quantify park accessibility, such as network analysis of proximity, perception of accessibility and usability, and additional park quality characteristics. Accurate measurement of park accessibility can therefore be important in showing the links between opportunities for active behavior and beneficial health outcomes.</p