National Public Health Assessment Model
What Does It Do?
The National Public Health Assessment Model (N-PHAM) estimates physical activity (e.g., walking for transport and walking for leisure) and health outcomes (e.g., cardiovascular disease and chronic disease) for a community based on a variety of demographic and built, natural and social environmental characteristics. Health care costs for the estimated health conditions are also calculated. The tool is nationally applicable at census geometry (e.g., tract, block group). With N-PHAM, users can explore health outcomes based on current and future conditions within their study area of interest. Envision Tomorrow can be used to create future scenario environmental input values for N-PHAM. N-PHAM’s statistical models use those future values to estimate how these changes may positively or negatively impact health outcomes.
Who Created It?
Urban Design 4 Health (UD4H), a research and consulting firm, developed N-PHAM with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) support. UD4H are the developers of both the tool architecture and the underlying statistical models used to estimate health outcomes.
UD4H works with public and private sectors to achieve social impact and quality of life goals through urban planning. The firm’s innovative, evidence-based, and objectively-measured data and tools are used to promote human health, social equity, environmental resilience, and economic development.
UD4H specializes in measuring the place-based relationships between land development, transportation, and activity and travel behavior patterns. An early pioneer in social determinants of health research, UD4H has an extensive demonstrated track record in conducting innovative research and applying it to real-world situations.
CURRENT STATUS
UD4H partnered with Fregonese Associates to integrate an earlier version of N-PHAM into the Envision Tomorrow suite of planning tools. The API-accessed application of N-PHAM used in that version is no longer available. With continued EPA support, UD4H is enhancing the current version of N-PHAM, with an early 2022 completion date.
In the meantime, UD4H has applied versions of N-PHAM in several regions, including Stockton, CA, Houston, TX, and Rochester, NY. For more information on N-PHAM, its applications, and how your organization can use it, please see:
For more information on how to include health impacts in your planning work, contact UD4H
● Jim Chapman, Managing Principal -- jchapman@ud4h.com
● Dr. William Bachman, Senior Analyst-- bbachman@ud4h.com