MRC Epidemiology Unit Studies

Physical activity is important for health and many people would benefit from being more active. However, this can be difficult to achieve in practice. Local authorities can play a part by making sure neighbourhoods are built to encourage more active lifestyles.

Designing and planning neighbourhoods that provide access to usable outdoor space seems like a promising way of improving health, but it is not clear how well this works. New homes are being built in large numbers in many parts of the country, which could allow the effects of new neighbourhoods on physical activity and health to be studied.

An ideal future research project in this area would study a group of people before and after they move home, to compare changes in physical activity and health and wellbeing, and include a control group who did not move home. However, a complex study like this would last for several years and would also be costly.

Therefore, a small scale study called Relocation to New Environments (RENEW) was carried out to build the foundations for future work.

The research found most of the people interviewed wanted to live somewhere close to a park, countryside or other green space. However, people had different preferences about the sort of neighbourhood they wanted to live in, which often depended on their stage of life. Interviews with housing professionals also provided useful information about working together more effectively to improve the research — for example about how to engage a wider range of people, both homeowners and tenants.

The research has provided the foundations to enable more effective future research in this area. This is important in helping to create healthier neighbourhoods and communities, enable residents to be active in these, improve health and reduce the burden on health and social services.

Contact

• For information about the RENEW study, please contact: Dr David Ogilvie, david.ogilvie@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk

• RENEW website at the NIHR School for Public Health Research: http://sphr.nihr.ac.uk/research/relocation-to-new-environments-renew/

Publications

• RENEW study publications on the MRC Epidemiology Unit publications database.

• Ogilvie D, et al. Relocation to New Environments (RENEW): final project report. Sheffield: NIHR School for Public Health Research (2015)

Information for Researchers

Aims of the study

RENEW was a scoping, feasibility and pilot study intended to help develop an approach and methods for a longitudinal study of the impacts of moving to newly-built neighbourhoods on physical activity and wellbeing.

Design

Scoping, pilot and feasibility study

Investigators

Principal investigator: Dr David Ogilvie – University of Cambridge

Co-investigators

• Professor Fiona Bull – Then at University of Western Australia, now at World Health Organisation

• Professor Felicia Huppert – University of Cambridge

• Professor Andy Jones – University of East Anglia

• Dr Jenna Panter – University of Cambridge

• Dr Nick Osborne – University of Exeter

Status

Completed.

Unit role

Unit led study in collaboration with University of Exeter Medical School. Unit responsible for data.

Sponsors

University of Cambridge.

Funding

NIHR School for Public Health Research.

Data sharing

We welcome proposals for projects and aim to make data as widely available as possible whilst safeguarding the privacy of our participants, protecting confidential data and maintaining the reputations of our studies and participants. Please see our Data Sharing pages for more information.