Healthy Towns Research Articles

Toowoomba Healthy Towns: A Citizen Science Initiative on Active Transport in Regional South East Queensland, Australia.

Engaging in active transport will enable individuals across the life course to increase their habitual levels of physical activity. The aim of this study was to engage citizen scientists (CS) to identify factors that influence active transport in their community. The Our Voice citizen science methodology developed at Stanford University was employed. CS completed a "discovery walk," taking photos of things that help or hinder active transport. Three groups were recruited: children aged 10-12years (n = 11), adults (n = 12), and older adults >65years (n = 10). CS rated each photo and provided a narrative explaining their reason for taking the photo. Once all CS in a specific age group had completed the walk, they met for a group discussion. The CS worked together to analyze the data, arranging them into themes and identifying priority actions. Two CS representatives from each age group presented their findings to the local council decision makers. Children highlighted the need for safer crossings, especially from their school to the local park, and suggested zebra crossings as a solution. The adults highlighted that road signs prioritized vehicles, not pedestrians, and requested that this be reversed. Older adults noted that the poor condition of the pavements made it harder for people in wheelchairs to navigate. The CS recommendations have informed the council's walking and cycling network program. Engaging with citizen science provided the community with an opportunity to advocate for meaningful yet realistic improvements in the built environment that could promote neighborhood active transport and physical activity across the lifespan.

Community-led urban transformation project as transdisciplinary approach: Case of Senboku Hottokenai Network Project

This study examined the community-led urban transformation project as a transdisciplinary approach in Senboku New Town (Senboku-NT). The research method employed a combination of case study and action research methodologies. In Senboku-NT, the population declined from approximately 170,000 to 115,000, and older adults account for 37.1% of the total population. The demographic change made it difficult for older people to live in Senboku-NT. Due to regional problems, local communities began to explore community-led urban transformation projects. The “Senboku Hottokenai Network Project” is a project in which vacant building stocks were gradually transformed into neighborhood healthcare facilities, including supportive housing for older people, a group home for people with disabilities, and a community restaurant. The urban transformations of the Senboku Hottokenai Network Project may have triggered those in the entire Senboku NT. Our main conclusions indicate the effectiveness of community-led urban transformation projects in old New Towns. The results of this study shed new light on the importance of community-led co-creation among multiple stakeholders as transdisciplinary projects toward the Healthy New Town. Our insight provides the need to implement a new movement program to extend the urban transformation project for the Healthy New Town to other old New Towns in East Asia.

User experience of neighbourhood greenspace and perceived impact on health and wellbeing: the case of an urban extension to a ‘Healthy New Town’ in England

ABSTRACT Recognising the provision of public greenspace in urban areas as a key tool to supporting health and wellbeing, the UK government has committed to ensuring that, by 2043, all citizens can reach greenspace within 15 minutes from their homes. However, it is increasingly acknowledged that simply providing access to greenspace may not be enough to ensure that positive benefits are realised. Characteristics including their accessibility, size, aesthetics, features, condition and safety can all distinguish between greenspaces that encourage visitation and those that are uninviting. This paper reports a neighbourhood-level study of the residential development of Kingsmere, which forms a significant urban extension to Bicester, England, and was developed as part of the government-funded ‘Healthy New Town’ programme. A cross-sectional survey, including follow-up interviews, was conducted to investigate residents’ use of different types of greenspace, satisfaction, and the perceived impact on personal health and wellbeing. Findings reveal that the provision of a variety of greenspaces within a 15-20-minute walk of homes has been effective in terms of use and satisfaction but that attention to access within sites, perceived safety, cleanliness and maintenance are important factors that could encourage greater use and enhance user satisfaction.

An Artificial Intelligence Prediction Approach for Behavioral Intentions of Health Tourism: a Protection Motivation Theory-based Perspective

Abstract This study applies an artificial intelligence (AI) method, informed by the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), to predict the behavioral intentions of tourists in a healthy town in Yunnan. This study looks at online search data to guess when a lot of tourists will come by combining text mining with the SPCA-LSTM model. This model combines seasonal and trend decomposition using Loess (STL) with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks. The model is more accurate than traditional forecasting methods and provides a daily average tourist flow estimate of 3,247 with minimal prediction errors. The average absolute error of 806.4074 and the root mean square error (RMSE) of 959.775 further highlight the model’s performance. This research contributes significantly to tourism management and strategic planning, particularly in health-related destinations. The model provides a reliable benchmark for predicting tourist flows enhancing decision-making processes in the tourism sector.

Children's experiences of care on walking and cycling journeys between home and school in Healthy New Towns: Reframing active school travel

The Healthy New Town programme in England set out to ‘put health into place’ by supporting the design and construction of healthy places to live, including by creating safe environments for active travel. To explore the impact of this approach, this study examined how children and their families experienced school journeys in two contrasting Healthy New Towns in England, one an affluent new town in the early stages of construction and the other more economically deprived and established. We undertook photo-elicitation and go-along interviews with 24 children aged 7-12 years and semi-structured interviews with 17 caregivers. We found that experiences of care were important for children's school travel. In the ‘deprived’ town, opportunities for children to care and to be cared for were enjoyed, facilitated by routes with limited traffic, pockets of ‘nature’, and possibilities to encounter meaningful others. For families living in a town under construction, the need to negotiate unfinished travel infrastructure, and a sense of being ‘in limbo’, was experienced as an absence of care by planners and developers. Interventions to promote children's active travel should consider the role of care-full planning in facilitating walking and cycling journeys.

Urban policies and the creation of healthy urban environments: A review of government housing and transport policy documents in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT Urban environments are key health determinants and play a critical role in improving health outcomes and equity. However, urban policies in the United Kingdom (UK) and globally frequently fail to produce healthy towns and cities. Given the highly centralized nature of UK policy, we analyzed national UK policy documents published since 2010 in two key areas of urban policy: housing supply and transport. We found that health is largely absent in narratives shaping urban development and, where health is included, it is as an assumed indirect outcome of delivering other policy agendas. Thus, we recommend that explicit direct and measurable health objectives must be integrated front and center in urban policies, and cross-sector collaboration across national government on health prevention to manage the complex linkages across policy areas. Evidencing the interactive effects between improving health outcomes and dominant urban policy agendas can incentivize shared accountability for health outcomes.

Research on the Influence of Local Residents' to Support of Healthy and Therapy Town - Take Z County, Guizhou as an Example

本研究旨在探討貴州省Z縣建設中的康養小鎮為案例，藉此瞭解地方居民對未來康養小鎮在運營與維護的參與意願、基層政府信任與居民支持度的影響。針對康養小鎮周邊之核心社區居民為主要對象，並選擇5%的總人口數為受測者，通過立意抽樣調查及面對面的方式進行問卷發放，獲得有效問卷443份，並對資料進行描述性統計分析、信效度分析和結構方程模式驗證。結果發現，居民參與意願對基層政府信任具有正向顯著影響，基層政府信任對居民支持度具有正向顯著影響，同時基層政府信任在居民參與意願及居民支持度之間具有完全中介效果。結果表明，該地人口以農民為居多，強化居民的基層政府信任度和農民參與及其社會保障機制，才能營造良好的政民互動氛圍，促進康養小鎮的持續發展。The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship among residents' participation willingness, local government trust and support in the construction of health and therapy town in Z County, Guizhou. In this paper, adopted purposive sampling in the core community of the health town and selected 5% of the total population as testers, obtaining 443 valid questionnaires, and descriptive statistical analysis, reliability and validity analysis and structural equation modeling were performed on them. According to the results, residents' participation willingness has a positive and significant impact on local government trust, while government trust has a positive and significant influence on policy support. The full mediation of local government trust has between residents' participation willingness and support; the influence of moderating function on participation willingness and support is moderated by types of workers that farmers generally do higher in participation willingness and support than non-farmers. The results show that the residents' trust in the local government should be strengthened to create a suitable atmosphere of interaction between the government and the people, and present the priority should be given to the farmer participation and social security mechanism.

S-15-4: EFFORTS AIMED TO ACHIEVE HYPERTENSION ZERO IN COMMUNITY; EXPERIENCE IN MAKURAZAKI CITY

Although hypertension is the major risk factor for stroke, cardiovascular diseases and renal failure, more than half of hypertensive patients is uncontrolled, named as hypertension paradox. We hypothesize the simple scheme measure and normalize blood pressure (BP) reduces stroke, cardiovascular diseases and renal failure as well as creates abundant and healthy town via improvement of health literacy. Therefore, we planned 4 plans; Kagoshima hypertension seminar (intensive lecture for general physician); Prediction of hypertension development system by general check-up; Hypertension class for Tarumizu citizens; Hypertension zero city project in Makurazaki city. We analyzed 350,000 general check-up data and determined prediction of hypertension development system for effective use in health guidance. We performed 4 serial lectures for general physicians and granted the title of Kagoshima Hypertension Meister after passing a small test. Around 400 citizens in Tarumizu city measured home BP for more than 3 years and health guidance was performed each 2 months. Hypertension zero city project in Makurazaki city (21,960 people, the highest incidence of stroke in Kagoshima prefecture), to achieve hypertension zero in community. The project includes BP measurement at any area in the city, hypertension lecture for high school students and so on. According to these plans, BP measured by general check-up reduced more than 1.5mmHg in systole for 6 years only in Kagoshima. In this symposium, I would like to talk about our efforts to achieve hypertension zero in community.

Development of China's health care system in the time of COVID‐19: Challenges, opportunities, and call for actions

Development of China's health care system in the time of COVID‐19: Challenges, opportunities, and call for actions

Retracted] Health Screening and Promotion System Based on Disease Prevention

With the rapid development of modern medical technology, more and more clinicians use computerized medical images as the main diagnostic basis. At the same time, the generation of massive medical image information promotes the development of medical image management. Aiming at the above two problems, a medical image reporting system based on physical examination is designed and implemented, in which the medical image reporting system is an independent and complete system including login, registration, appointment, triage and doctor workstation (inquiry, report editing, and report printing), and other modules. Using the methods of literature review, expert interview, case analysis, and rational analysis, combined with nanotechnology research, this paper takes urban population health as the starting point and health promotion as the background. As the basis of systematic comparison, the theory, position, and function of health promotion are discussed in detail. Among them, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and Subscriber Data Center are the collection sites for the literature data mentioned in this article. With the construction of healthy towns and the development of social movements, the establishment of healthy sports to improve health promotion system aims to help sports play an important role in promoting healthy development. The results show that the average scores of step test for boys and girls in the test are 72.97 and 68.77, respectively, while the average scores of distance running in the national physique monitoring are 66 and 63. Therefore, in the newly established scoring standard, the step test scores of boys with 66 points are 72, while those of girls with 66 points are 68.

Overcoming Systemic Barriers Preventing Healthy Urban Development in the UK: Main Findings from Interviewing Senior Decision-Makers During a 3-Year Planetary Health Pilot

This paper sets out the main findings from two rounds of interviews with senior representatives from the UK’s urban development industry: the third and final phase of a 3-year pilot, Moving Health Upstream in Urban Development’ (UPSTREAM). The project had two primary aims: firstly, to attempt to value economically the health cost-benefits associated with the quality of urban environments and, secondly, to interview those in control of urban development in the UK in order to reveal the potential barriers to, and opportunities for, the creation of healthy urban environments, including their views on the use of economic valuation of (planetary) health outcomes. Much is known about the ‘downstream’ impact of urban environments on human and planetary health and about how to design and plan healthy towns and cities (‘midstream’), but we understand relatively little about how health can be factored in at key governance tipping points further ‘upstream’, particularly within dominant private sector areas of control (e.g. land, finance, delivery) at sub-national level. Our findings suggest that both public and private sector appeared well aware of the major health challenges posed by poor-quality urban environments. Yet they also recognized that health is not factored adequately into the urban planning process, and there was considerable support for greater use of non-market economic valuation to help improve decision-making. There was no silver bullet however: 110 barriers and 76 opportunities were identified across a highly complex range of systems, actors and processes, including many possible points of targeted intervention for economic valuation. Eight main themes were identified as key areas for discussion and future focus. This findings paper is the second of two on this phase of the project: the first sets out the rationale, approach and methodological lessons learned.

Consumption crusade: the influence of tuberculosis on the emergence of town planning in South Australia, 1890–1918

ABSTRACT At the turn of the twentieth century, town planning and public health ideals coalesced, with health and environmental reformers working in concert to promote goals of healthy and sanitary towns for all. Focussing on South Australia, this article demonstrates how pulmonary tuberculosis lay at the heart of many strategies suggested by doctors, sanitarians, architects, and advocates for the nascent town planning profession. Tuberculosis, as the biggest killer of that era, had no cure, so prevention and treatment relied on behavioural and environmental interventions. Light, air and space were central to treatment regimens, with the trio also forming the basis for the environmental planning qualities put forward by town planning reformers who hoped to create a preventative environment. Reformers believed they could achieve healthier living conditions and help conquer tuberculosis through the means of housing improvement, slum clearance, open space provision and street layout with all of these combining in garden city and suburb design. This article explores the work of health and town planning advocates in South Australia in order to uncover just how much the fight against tuberculosis influenced the beginnings of the crusade for town planning.

The long-term health and wellbeing impacts of Healthy New Towns (HNTs): protocol for a baseline and feasibility study of HNT demonstrator sites in England

BackgroundIncreasing levels of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), mental health problems, high rates of unhealthy behaviours and health inequalities remain major public health challenges worldwide. In the context of increasing urbanisation, there is an urgent need to understand how evidence that living environments shape health, wellbeing and behaviour can be used to design and deliver healthy environments in local urban settings. The Healthy New Town (HNT) programme implemented in England from 2015 consists of ten major housing developments that aim to improve population health through healthy design principles, new models for integrating health and social care and the creation of strong and connected communities. The programme provides a natural experiment in which to investigate the effects on health, wellbeing and inequalities of large-scale interventions targeting the wider social determinants of health.MethodsThe research described in this protocol aims to examine the feasibility of a larger study to assess the longer-term health impacts of HNTs, by addressing two research questions: (1) what are the similarities and differences in the HNT programme developments, processes, contexts and expected impacts and outcomes across HNT sites? and (2) how feasible is the use of data from routine sources and existing HNT evaluations and as the baseline for a definitive study to assess impact on health, wellbeing, behavioural and economic outcomes and programme processes? The research will consist of (a) participatory systems mapping with stakeholders to produce a theoretical framework for a longer-term study on the HNT programme, (b) synthesis of existing qualitative data from local HNT evaluations to understand local processes and intervention mechanisms, (c) scoping local and routinely available data to establish a baseline and feasibility for a longer-term study of health and economic outcomes, and (d) building relationships and recruiting HNT sites into the proposed research.DiscussionThe proposed research will produce a theoretical framework and assess the feasibility of a definitive study of outcomes of the HNT programme. This research is necessary to understand how longer-term health, wellbeing, behavioural and economic outcomes can be measured, and to inform a definitive study to generate evidence on the effectiveness of the HNT programme.

The current situation and trends of healthy building development in China

The development of healthy buildings is an important way to implement the strategy of “Healthy China” in the building industry. It is of great significance to promote the development of healthy buildings. In 2016, China’s first healthy building technical standard Assessment Standard for Healthy Building was released and implemented in January 2017. Since then, the healthy building has achieved rapid development in China, which is embodied in the following aspects. (1) Set technical standards to lead the development of healthy buildings. To realize the fine construction guidelines, in addition to Assessment Standard for Healthy Building , technical standards for healthy buildings have been compiled for major building types, such as healthy hotels and healthy hospitals. In addition, on the basis of single building, assessment standards such as healthy community and healthy town have considered the healthy influencing factors in different scopes and put forward the corresponding technical requirements. (2) Conduct the scientific research to provide theoretical and technical supports for the development of healthy buildings. The researchers carried out special scientific research from the aspects of building ventilation, indoor air quality, emission of pollutants from building materials, healthy lighting and light environment improvement, sports health and so on. (3) Various organizations provide services for the healthy building industry. First, the healthy living professional group of China association for engineering construction standardization (CECS) was established to promote the standardization of healthy buildings. Second, China Healthy Building Alliance plays the role of link, carrier and platform to establish a diversified channel for sharing healthy building resources. Third, the relevant research institutions were established to conduct special research on the theory and technology of healthy buildings. (4) Carry out project evaluation to drive the implementation of healthy building projects. Chinese Society for Urban Studies (CSUS) has carried out the evaluation and certification of healthy building. By September 2019, a total of 50 projects had obtained the certification of healthy building identification, covering 14 provinces and cities with a total building area of nearly 5 million m2. (5) Promote healthy building technology progress through academic exchange and technical cooperation. Taking 2019 (the first) Healthy Building Conference as an example, academicians, experts, executives and other representatives from different fields exchanged views on healthy environment research, standard certification, scheme supply, case demonstration and industrial value, which gave new momentum to the development of healthy buildings. However, the healthy buildings are still in the initial stage in China. In the future, more comprehensive exploration and innovation should be carried out in the following aspects. (1) The identification of factors affecting physical health, mental health and social health related to healthy buildings and the mechanisms of healthy impact need further exploration. (2) It is necessary to promote the interdisciplinary development of healthy buildings, realize the interdisciplinarity and integration, and solve the scientific problem as a whole. (3) In the design stage, comprehensive pre-evaluation is carried out on the factors affecting human health, and the health is integrated into the design of buildings and communities, and healthy design technology is studied and developed. (4) The research on technical standard system of healthy building should be carried out to establish a standard system covering different types of buildings in different stages of the whole life cycle. (5) It is urgent to strengthen the research and development of the related theories, standards, technologies and supporting products of the existing buildings and communities.

Libro Healthy Towns - assessing availability of food information for a pilot public health initiative

AbstractIn Ireland SI 489/2014 mandates food businesses (FB) to present written allergen information on food and drink at the point of presentation or sale. Despite this requirement being in place since 2014, compliance is low. A 2017 audit published by the Food Safety Authority Ireland reported that corrective action was required by 88% of FB assessed.Calorie labeling, although not legally required, has strong consumer demand. Furthermore when FB implement calorie labeling, improvements to stock management resulted in reduced costs.This study aims to establish a baseline of available information to evaluate the progress of the public health initiative “Libro Healthy Towns”: a pilot project aimed at supporting FB to provide food information to consumers.A catchment area was established to identify FB for inclusion. FB were categorised by business type: Multi-site (MB) or Independent site (IB), and service type: Restaurant/Café (RC), Restaurant/Takeaway (RT), Hotel, Pub/Restaurant and Takeaway. Availability of allergen and calorie information were collected by observing and photographing food information on display. Where information was not observable, it was requested. Employees were asked if consumers requested calorie information. Responses were recorded for input into a spreadsheet. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS (ver. 24). Results were assessed using Chi-Square and Likelihood Ratio.In total 54 FB were assessed (31 = MB, 23 = IB), 63% had allergen information displayed and 31% had it available on request. There was no statistically significant difference between business type and allergen information being available on display or by request. Three businesses (6%) had no allergen information available; 100% of these were IB. MB were significantly more likely to have allergen information available (100%) compared with IB (87%) (p-value = .021). Calorie information was available for 24% (n = 13) of FB, of which significantly more (92%) were MB (p-value = .003). Calorie information was requested in 56% of FB, most frequently requested in RC and RT, 62% and 55% respectively. Significantly more MB reported that consumers requested calorie information compared with IB, 77% and 26% respectively (p-value = < .001).Only half of businesses displayed allergen information in writing at the point of presentation or sale. Consumer interest in calorie information was strong, supporting previous research showing consumers want to make informed food choices. Access to food information was easier in MB however this study shows that measures to improve the availability of food information are necessary across all business types.

Libro Healthy Towns' - A food business protocol for nutrition and allergen declaration

Abstract‘Libro Healthy Towns’ is a joint public health initiative developed under the Healthy Ireland Charter. The initiative ultimately aims to improve the food environment and support informed food choices through technology. Food businesses are required by EU regulation 1169/2011 on the Provision of Food Information to Consumers, to provide allergen information on foods served. Calorie labelling, while not required, has been established as a strong public desire. This study aims to establish a protocol for implementation of allergen and nutrition declaration in food outlets. A catchment area was used to identify food businesses that were categorised by service sector and organisational type. Two businesses from each service sector were contacted to establish their willingness to participate in the study. A template was developed to collect the food information necessary for nutrition and allergen declaration including: menu items, component recipes and sub-recipes, recipe ingredients and quantities, cooking methods, servings per recipe and recipe weight following cooking. Facilitated weighing was used to establish ingredient weights. Ingredient specific food information: food name, brand, ingredient list, supplier and food form, were observed from packaging. Foods suitable for analysis using generic composition data were identified. Feedback from food businesses was recorded during recruitment and observationally, during onboarding. Of the 54 food outlets included within the catchment area: 57% were classified as ‘restaurant/takeaway’, 28% ‘restaurant/cafe’, 7% ‘pub/restaurant’, 7% ‘takeaway’ and 4% ‘hotel’. 57% of businesses were ‘multisite’, 43% ‘independent’. Of the 10 businesses contacted, 2 businesses volunteered to take part. (Site A & B; a restaurant/cafe and restaurant/takeaway, respectively). In total, 72 ingredients were used for recipe analysis in site A, most (n = 41) were branded. In total, 75 ingredients were used for recipe analysis in site B, most (n = 73) were generic. Reasons for not participating included: fear that declaring nutrition information would negatively impact sales 12.5%, concern regarding digital security of proprietary recipes 12.5%, limited technological skills 12.5%, no reason 25% and unavailability of a decision maker 37.5%. Furthermore, difficulty measuring ingredients, reluctance to waste food and lack of knowledge of brands purchased were identified as barriers to recipe information collection. This study establishes parameters for implementing nutrition and allergen declaration in food outlets. It highlights challenges to providing and collecting food information. Ensuring that provisions are made to address these will be vital to the success of the ‘Libro Healthy Towns’ public health initiative.

Formação para municípios saudáveis: trajetória, experiência e desafios para a Rede Pernambucana de municípios saudáveis

O artigo trata da trajetória da Rede Pernambucana de Municípios Saudáveis (RPMS), sua experiência e desafios específicos para a formação temática que realiza desde 2004, tendo como pano de fundo a reemergência do ideário das cidades saudáveis no contexto mundial, após o Encontro dos Prefeitos acontecido em Xangai, em 2016. São descritos os cursos principais, público-alvo e conteúdo programático. Reflexões teórico-conceituais são realizadas sobre a caminhada da RPMS. Em um novo cenário, deve-se considerar a agenda 2030 e os objetivos do desenvolvimento sustentável, um dos quais trata sobre o tema de municípios, cidades e comunidades saudáveis (MCCS). Apresenta-se o guia da Organização Panamericana de Saúde para a implementação da Declaração de Xangai e discute-se as possibilidades de adoção desse guia na nova formação proposta para a RPMS. Ressalta-se, ainda, os novos desafios que surgiram no âmbito da virtualização, da necessidade de mudar abordagem e conceito sobre promoção da saúde, da constatação do não-lugar e da mixofobia e aponta-se que esses temas emergentes precisam ser enfrentados na formação que a RPMS oferece.

The Many Lives of Justiniano Roxas: The Centenarian Fantasy in American History and Memory

The Many Lives of Justiniano Roxas:The Centenarian Fantasy in American History and Memory Boyd Cothran (bio) and Martin Rizzo (bio) SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA. December 1873. The sweet smell of burning redwood met the visitors as they entered the small apartment. The last rays of the winter solstice shone through the window, casting gossamer shadows across the bare pine floor. Earlier that morning, the old man had attended mass at the Holy Cross Church, one of the original twenty-one California missions. But on this cool afternoon, the elderly Justiniano Roxas sat on the floor of his twelve-by-six-foot suite at the county hospital on Mission Hill. He huddled close to the fire, surrounded by chopped wood, and he sewed a patch onto his coat.1 Residents of the central California coastal village of Santa Cruz had known of Roxas for some time. A recent illness had forced him to seek the aid of the Sisters of Charity, who, for their own reasons, took on his care, placing him in the county hospital, which they managed. Roxas received a room, a warm fire, and regular access to food and tea. And then the sisters informed the local newspaper of their benevolence. The Sisters of Charity had saved "the oldest living inhabitant on the face of the globe!" they said. He was, they claimed, 121 years old and "the last of his race."2 The Santa Cruz Sentinel sent a reporter to interview Roxas. But when the reporter entered the room, Roxas remained quiet. The parish priest of Santa Cruz, Father Joaquin Adam, accompanied the reporter. He approached the elderly man and placed his hand upon his shoulder. He might have whispered, "Mi hijo, tienes invitados." With a jerk, the old man woke from his thoughts and, according to the reporter, "looked around and commenced jabbering in Spanish to the Father—shaking his head at every word." The reporter was convinced that the Indian, hoary and frail, was aged. But could he really be 121 years old? To prove the sisters' claim, Father Adam produced the mission's baptismal record and translated it for the reporter. As the Sentinel later reported, the entry read: "On the 4th of March, of 1792, in this church of the Mission of Santa Cruz, I [Father Isidro Salazar] solemnly baptized a man of about 40 years belonging to a ranch, who I name Justiniano Roxas now." The man who was described in the baptismal record and the [End Page 168] man who was in the Santa Cruz hospital were, the newspaper declared, one and the same. "The testimony on this point is conclusive," it reported. In the early 1870s Santa Cruz was gaining a reputation for being a healthy town. Local boosters claimed that its "benign" climate extended life and rejuvenated the infirm. The survival of Justiniano Roxas, they now began to boast, was living proof.3 This article is the story of that old man in the county hospital. It is part archival mystery and part methodological essay. As a self-reflective examination of a joint scholarly endeavor, it is a story about how two historians worked together to unearth and discover the tale of an Indigenous man whose true-life story is far more interesting than any fictional account. But it is also a meditation on the meaning of Indigenous survival in California history. In a state notorious for its history of genocide and renowned for its famous "last" Indians, unexpected stories of survival remain hidden in plain sight. This article, then, is about what can be gained from reconstructing, piece by piece, the lives of those individuals who claimed to be centenarians. It is also about what can be gained when historians work together to look beyond the fantastical headlines and invest the time and energy necessary to understand the real person behind these fantasies. This is the story of the many lives of Justiniano Roxas. ________ The story of Justiniano Roxas begins with a critical engagement with Jean O'Brien's concept of "lasting" as an analytical lens. In basic terms, "lasting" describes a practice among nineteenth-century New Englanders, especially antiquarians and local community leaders, of marking the...

NHS Healthy New Towns Programme

The growing and ageing population of England has for many years been a topic at the centre of any discussion about heath and care services in the country. These demographic changes add to the press...

Shafts of light from the past

ABSTRACTIn the first edition of Cities & Health Roderick Lawrence, Anthony Capon and Jose Siri used Hippocrates’ principles as a starting point for a discussion about contemporary health challenges and ecological public health policy. Here I want to explore more deeply some of the theories and practices of healthy town planning in ancient Greece and Rome. They are both surprising and inspiring. There are some salutary lessons to learn.