Neighborhood Connect

Prevention Research Center at UMass Chan

The study is evaluating the effectiveness of an implementation strategy called Neighborhood Connect, which is designed to support residents' engagement in activities that improve the attractiveness, safety and livability of Worcester, MA neighborhoods. The program focuses on the built environment (i.e., the human-made, physical surroundings of Worcester neighborhoods including indoor public places and outdoor spaces like parks, streets and sidewalks) and aims to build capacity of community members to strengthen their neighborhoods. Participants will include residents and others who care about local built environment conditions. Neighborhood Connect is delivered by a built environment specialist from the local health department in collaboration with a statewide coalition.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Built Environment
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Neighborhood Connect

Detailed Description

The study is the core research project of the Prevention Research Center at UMass Chan. Under the guidance of a Community Advisory Board, the program aims to build capacity of the local health department and local residents to influence built environment change in neighborhoods. The program includes a training and technical assistance approach. The local health department built environment specialist learns about the built environment and how to determine how related decisions are made. The built environment specialist delivers the Zoom-based group program for residents. This six session training and technical assistance model includes 3 components: Connect with Community, Connect with Environment and Connect with Process. Through Neighborhood Connect's structured learning and applied activities, participants: Strengthen interpersonal connections and social networks within neighborhoods, Explore their neighborhoods and identify their priorities for change or improvement, Learn how decision-making processes affect their communities and Collaborate on ideas for small-scale neighborhood improvements. The implementation strategy is being evaluated in a mixed methods study. Through a stepped wedge design with 8 waves (neighborhood/area) rolled out in 4 steps (2 neighborhoods/areas per wave), the resident-focused component of Neighborhood Connect is being evaluated. Both the resident and health department components are being evaluated using qualitative methods.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 240
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Stephenie C Lemon, PhD, MS; Phone Number: 15088564098; Email: Stephenie.Lemon@Umassmed.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, 01655
      • Recruiting
      • University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
      • Contact: Stephenie C Lemon, PhD, MS; Phone Number: 5088261325; Email: Stephenie.Lemon@Umassmed.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Live, work or have other connection to specific areas of Worcester, MA;
• Speak English or Spanish

Exclusion Criteria:

• Don't speak English or Spanish;
• Have a cognitive deficit that precludes participation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Neighborhood Connect implementation strategy; All participants receive the Neighborhood Connect implementation strategy. It is deployed to all participants in a given wave (neighborhood/area) at once. Order of implementaiton of the intervention is determined by neighborhood/area-level randomization.	Other: Neighborhood Connect; Neighborhood Connect is an implementation strategy designed to prepare participants to make built environment changes that promote healthy communities, including social connectedness, physical activity, traffic safety, etc. The program is generic and allows participants to identify their own priorities for built environment change. The curriculum includes six Zoom-based educational sessions delivered by a built environment specialist with a member of a walking coalition, participation in a neighborhood audit, creation of a plan for change and ability to receive technical assistance after the formal program is completed. The built environment specialist receives training and technical assistance for leading the resident-focused implementation strategy.
Other: Pre-implementation; Within this stepped wedge design, each individual serves as their own comparator. Data from the pre-implementation phase will be collected for this purpose.	Other: Neighborhood Connect; Neighborhood Connect is an implementation strategy designed to prepare participants to make built environment changes that promote healthy communities, including social connectedness, physical activity, traffic safety, etc. The program is generic and allows participants to identify their own priorities for built environment change. The curriculum includes six Zoom-based educational sessions delivered by a built environment specialist with a member of a walking coalition, participation in a neighborhood audit, creation of a plan for change and ability to receive technical assistance after the formal program is completed. The built environment specialist receives training and technical assistance for leading the resident-focused implementation strategy.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Built environment actions	12 item investigator developed measure based on the Expert Consensus for Local Implementation of Physical Activity Policy, Systems and Environment (ECLIPPSE) strategies, specifically focusing on action domains.	Baseline, 3 months, 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Collective Efficacy	5 item investigator developed survey to assess perceived collective efficacy for making built environment changes	Baseline, 3 months, 12 months
Collective Behavioral Capability	3-item investigator developed survey assessing perceived collective behavioral capability for built environment change	Baseline, 3 months, 12 months
Perceived Impact of Built Environment Change	12 item investigator developed survey of the perceived impact of built environment changes	Baseline, 3 months, 12 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Implementation of Built Environment Changes	Exploratory 9 items survey developed by the investigator team to assess completion of built environment changes. Considered an exploratory outcome because the funded study time frame precludes ability to comprehensively monitor changes over time, as built environment changes can require many years to complete.	Baseline, 3 months, 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Massachusetts, Worcester
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Stephenie C Lemon, PhD, MS, University of Massachusetts, Worcester

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• The intervention components are available on the study website. This is a participant facing website that also includes materials for facilitators.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 14, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 18, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): August 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 24, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 18, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: implementation science; built environment
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00002008; U48DP006808 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Per our Data Management Plan with the funder (CDC), data may be shared with investigators wishing to perform secondary analyses. Only de-identified data conducted in compliance with IRB regulations and the Data Management Plan will be shared upon request and with a data use agreement.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data will be made available beginning 12 months after completion of the study and available for 5 years.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Deidentified individual participant data will be made available to qualified researchers whose proposed use has been approved by the study investigators. Requests must include a methodologically sound research proposal. Investigators will be required to sign a Data Use Agreement. Requests must be made to the PI.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF; ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No