This research seeks to forward the conversation on health equity by exploring the design of the built environment using the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) as a guiding framework. Under a 3-year study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Program, the project seeks to understand how the design of a hybrid elementary school/YMCA located in an under-resourced area of Southeast Raleigh, North Carolina impacts the physical and mental health of a community. Preliminary findings of survey research with school staff address the following questions: 1) What are ways in which design can impact health equity? 2) What are the current barriers to health equity that can be impacted by design? And 3) What opportunities exist to increase health equity through design? Intended audiences for this study include public health and architecture researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals who seek to impact health equity through design.
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