Disability and the built environment: An investigation of community and neighborhood land uses and participation for physically impaired adults

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Study examined the relationship between community and neighborhood land uses and community participation among adults with acquired physical disability. Data were obtained from the national Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) database for 508 community-living chronically disabled adults in New Jersey. The following four domains of participation were assessed for the SCIMS and were used for this study: (1) physical independence, (2) mobility, (3) occupation, and (4) social integration. Participants’ residential addresses were geocoded to link individual survey data with Geographic Information Systems data on land use and destinations. Multivariate logistic regression models tested the influence of residential density, land-use mix, destination counts, and open space on the four participation domains at two geographic scales: the neighborhood (half-mile buffer) and community (five-mile buffer). All analyses were adjusted for demographic- and impairment-related differences. Results indicated that living in communities with greater land-use mix and more destinations was associated with a decreased likelihood of reporting optimum social and physical activity. Conversely, living in neighborhoods with large portions of open space was positively associated with the likelihood of reporting full physical, occupational, and social participation. These findings suggest that the overall living conditions of the built environment may be relevant to social inclusion for people with physical disabilities

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