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Harnessing Technology and Citizen Science to Support Neighborhoods that Promote Active Living in Mexico

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Abstract

Middle- and low-income countries bear 80 % of the global chronic disease burden. Population-level, multi-sectoral approaches to promoting healthful lifestyles that take into local physical, socioeconomic, and sociocultural characteristics of both the environment and the population are needed. The “Nuestra Voz (Our Voice)” is one such approach that involves neighborhood residents acting as “citizen scientists” to systematically gather information on the barriers and facilitators of physical activity in their neighborhoods and then use their data to collectively advocate for local environmental- and policy-level changes to support active living. We pilot tested this approach in Cuernavaca, Mexico with adults and adolescents. This community-engaged and participatory approach is driven by residents, who utilize a GPS-enabled electronic tablet-based application with simple audio-based instructions to take photographs and record audio narratives of facets of their neighborhood that promote or hinder active living. After collecting these data, the citizen scientists come together in a community meeting and use their data to prioritize realistic, multi-level changes for promoting active living in their neighborhoods. A survey assessed participants’ acceptability of the approach. Participating citizen scientists included 32 adults and 9 adolescents. The citizen scientists rated the acceptability of five of the nine acceptability survey items with an average of 4.0 or higher out of 5.0, indicating they thought it was “fun,” were comfortable carrying the tablet, were likely to use it again, and would recommend it to friends and family. Items with average scores of less than 4 were all related to safety concerns. The most common barriers reported by citizen scientists using the tablet were poor sidewalk quality, presence of trash, negative characteristics of the streets, unpleasant aesthetics (e.g., graffiti), and presence of parks and recreational facilities. The Our Voice citizen scientist approach using the Discovery Tool has high potential for assisting communities in diverse settings to begin to identify both local barriers to active living as well as potentially useful strategies for promoting physical activity in culturally congruent ways that are appropriate and feasible in the local context.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Giovanna Gatica for her significant contributions to this project.

Authors’ Contributions

LGR took a lead role in designing and obtaining funding for this study, implementing the study, analyzing the data, and preparing the manuscript. DS played a key role in designing and implementing the study, analyzing the data, and preparing the manuscript. SJW significantly contributed to designing and implementing the study and played a key role in analyzing the data and preparing the manuscript. DC played a central role in implementing the study, was responsible for enrolling participants, collecting data, and interpreting results. JR played a key role in designing the study and interpreting findings. NR played a key role in analyzing the data and reporting results. ACK took a lead role in designing and obtaining funding for this study, implementing the study, and preparing the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, 795 El Camino Real, Ames Building, Palo Alto, CA, 94301, USA

    Lisa G. Rosas

  2. Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University, 1070 Arastradero Rd. Suite 100, Palo Alto, CA, 94305, USA

    Lisa G. Rosas, Sandra J. Winter, Nicole M. Rodriguez & Abby C. King

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, 1616 Guadalupe St, Suite 6.300, Austin, TX, 78727, USA

    Deborah Salvo

  4. Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, Universidad No. 655 Colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cerrada Los Pinos y Caminera, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62100, Mexico

    Deborah Salvo, David Cortes & Juan Rivera

Authors
  1. Lisa G. Rosas
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  2. Deborah Salvo
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  3. Sandra J. Winter
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  4. David Cortes
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  5. Juan Rivera
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  6. Nicole M. Rodriguez
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  7. Abby C. King
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa G. Rosas.

Ethics declarations

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards of Stanford University and the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico. All adult participants signed informed consent forms, and adolescent participants verbally assented to participate in the study while their parents or guardians provided written informed consent.

Funding

This study was funded by a grant from the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health (title: Nuestra Voz-Mexico). At the time of manuscript preparation DS was funded as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The funders did not play a role in the design of the study or collection, analysis, or interpretation of data.

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Rosas, L.G., Salvo, D., Winter, S.J. et al. Harnessing Technology and Citizen Science to Support Neighborhoods that Promote Active Living in Mexico. J Urban Health 93, 953–973 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0081-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0081-6

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