FUNDING SOURCE: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute (2018-2021)

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS:

• Andrew Kaczynski, PhD

CO-INVESTIGATORS:

• Benjamin Schooley, PhD
• Sara Wilcox, PhD

Parks are key community resources that provide numerous psychological, physiological, and social benefits. Most notably, parks can facilitate health cost savings (more users benefiting from physical activity, stress relief, etc.) that can contribute to the prevention of chronic conditions such as depression, obesity, diabetes, and cancers. However, maximizing the potential of community parks requires an accurate understanding and promotion of park resources. The eCPAT System is intended to be a set of evidence-based tools to engage diverse stakeholders in evaluating, improving, and accessing park information to improve awareness and promote park-based physical activity and community health.

To learn more about eCPAT, please visit the Built Environment and Community Health (BEACH) Laboratory website.

PUBLICATIONS:

Besenyi, G.M., Diehl, P., Schooley, B., Turner-McGrievy, G.M., Wilcox, S., Wilhelm Stanis, S.A., & Kaczynski, A.T. (2016). Development and testing of mobile technology for community park improvements: Validity and reliability of the eCPAT application with youth. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 6, 519-532. doi:10.1007/s13142-016-0405-9

Gallerani, D. G., Besenyi, G. M., Wilhelm Stanis, S. A., & Kaczynski, A. T. (2017). “We actually care and we want to make the parks better”: A qualitative study of youth experiences and perceptions after conducting park audits. Prev Med, 95 Suppl, S109-S114. PMID: 27575320. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.08.043

Besenyi, G.M., Schooley, B.L., Turner-McGrievy, G., Wilcox, S., Wilhelm Stanis, S.A., & Kaczynski, A.T. (2018). The electronic community park audit tool (eCPAT) project: Exploring the use of mobile technology for youth empowerment and advocacy for health community policy, systems, and environmental change. Frontiers in Public Health, 6:332. PMID: 30515373