Healthy neighborhoods

In this issue: This week is National Public Health Week. Each day within National Public Health Week has a specific theme. Today’s focus is “Healthy Neighborhoods.” This is particularly important because where we live, work, and play can significantly affect our health and safety:  

• In a study of community exposure to gun homicides, Black and Latinx youth were 3–7 times more likely, depending on the exposure radius, to experience a past-year gun homicide than white youth and on average experienced incidents more recently and closer to home. Household poverty contributed to exposure inequities, but disproportionate residence in disadvantaged neighborhoods was especially consequential (Kravitz-Wirtz et al. 2022).
• Researchers also found that adolescents’ risk of exposure to a past-year firearm homicide decreased as household income and neighborhood collective efficacy increased, though stark racial/ethnic inequities remained. The findings suggest that neighborhoods where residents share norms and values, trust one another, and are empowered to intervene to address problems (i.e., higher collective efficacy) may provide some level of protection for youth, even in the context of household socioeconomic disadvantage (Aubel et al. 2023).
• Unjust socioeconomic and political forces and systems of power and privilege lead to differences in risk exposure among population groups, as well as differences in the extent to which various segments of the population are protected from the adverse effects of firearm violence. The authors propose that a “social and structural determinants” perspective should be used to understand and respond to this public health problem (Buggs et al. 2023).

Violence impacts the wellbeing of our communities and is a barrier to achieving healthy neighborhoods. This National Public Health Week, we encourage you to apply a social and structural determinants lens and support comprehensive violence prevention efforts that strengthen neighborhoods and communities.  

Other topics covered:

• New research on misdemeanor convictions and violent crime, as well as background check systems for firearm purchases.
• Hiring announcements for three positions. 
• The Threat AID (Assessing Imminent Dangerousness) tool 

Stay informed—read the full newsletter for insights on how our work is driving violence prevention, our latest research and resources, upcoming events, and more. Subscribe so you never miss an issue.