Clinical trial NCT01336374: Vacant Lot Greening and Violence-Related Outcomes
Official title: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Vacant Lot Greening and Violence-related Outcomes
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Violence Prevention
Built Environment
Lead sponsor: University of Pennsylvania
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2011-04-15
Enrollment: 29
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: ECOLOGIC_OR_COMMUNITY
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Residents living around two seperate sites (one site where vacant lots are greened and a control site where vacant lots are not greened).

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of vacant lot greening on perceptions of safety and violence for residents living around the lots. We hypothesize that people living around lots that are greened will have improved perception of safety.

Detailed description: Violence is a serious health problem in the US, and especially in Philadelphia, as the city ranks first in violent crime amongst the ten largest US cities. The determinants of violent crime range from individual to community level factors. In this study, we focus on physical incivilities in the built environment, specifically vacant lots, as they have been associated with violent crime. Physical incivilities are also associated with individual perceptions of crime and safety, and subsequently, negative health outcomes. However, prior research has been observational and retrospective. We aim to expand this body of work through a randomized community intervention trial of vacant lot greening to explore causal mechanisms between vacant lots and violent crime outcomes. This pilot study, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, will investigate the feasibility of a vacant lot greening intervention, and explore how vacant lot greening changes resident perception about violence, fear, stress, and neighborhood disorder, as well as violent crime in the surrounding area. We will interview residents living around the greened and non-greened lots during a joint walk around a pre-determined route, which will ensure exposure to our intervention. We will also use violent crime data (homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, and rape) from the Philadelphia Police Department. Results of this pilot trial will be used to develop a full scale vacant lot greening grant to be submitted to the National Institutes of Health or the National Institute of Justice.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age 18-65
* Lives in home
* Ability to walk unassisted and without difficulty for 10 blocks

Exclusion Criteria:

* One resident per house

Primary outcomes:
measure: Perceptions of safety and violence
timeFrame: measured twice - once during first month of study and once during 4th or 5th month.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Heart Rate
timeFrame: measured twice - once during first month of study and once during 4th or 5th month of study
measure: Violent crime statistics
timeFrame: Measured 6 months before intervention and 6 months after intervention
measure: Safe/Unsafe items in the environment
timeFrame: measured twice - once during the first month of the study and once during the 4th or 5th month.
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: University of Pennsylvania
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Pennsylvania
name: Eugenia C Garvin, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: