摘要：In 2006, the Federal Collaboration on Health Disparities Research (FCHDR) identified the built environment as a priority for eliminating health disparities, and charged the Built Environment Workgroup with identifying ways to eliminate health disparities and improve health outcomes. Despite extensive research and the development of a new conceptual health factors framework, gaps in knowledge exist in areas such as disproportionate environmental and community hazards, individual and cumulative risks, and other factors. The FCHDR provides the structure and opportunity to mobilize and partner with built environment stakeholders, federal partners, and interest groups to develop tools, practices, and policies for translating and disseminating the best available science to reduce health disparities. IN 2006, THE FEDERAL COL laboration on Health Disparities Research (FCHDR) convened leading scientists and officials across 14 federal departments and identified the built environment as one of the top priorities for eliminating health disparities through collaborative action. An outstanding opportunity currently exists to integrate health care into community development, since “two thirds of all development … needed in 2050 has yet to be built or redeveloped,” 1 and massive investments in infrastructure and green building investments are now under way. 2 Public health and environmental scientists are increasingly focused on the interdependent relationship between the built environment and health disparities. The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Sustainable Communities, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have collaborated to help eliminate disparities in the built environment by promoting environmentally friendly developments—coined “smart growth”—that emphasize housing and transportation choices, as well as public and private investments that promote physical activity; cleaner, safer communities; and access to health care and healthy foods. Preliminary projections show substantial health care savings through improvements in the built environment. However, a better understanding of the social and environmental health factors that disproportionately contribute to poor health outcomes for disadvantaged and vulnerable communities is needed. In this essay, we (1) highlight the need for research, policies, and tools to help eliminate environmental factors that disproportionately contribute to disparities among disadvantaged and vulnerable communities; (2) describe the association between the built environment and disparities in health outcomes; and (3) provide recommendations for policy research dissemination.
