Peter Scanlon

AIARG Conference 2014

An investigation on how the current conditions of the built environmental correlates with Health Status and Well-Being of residents within the rural community in essence exploring the story of place, where poetically man dwells (Heidegger, 1951). This study will strive to determine the health status, sense of place, essence of kinship in rural communities and evaluate if the built environment has an impact on their health and quality of life, also exploring if initiatives¿ like Transition Towns (TT) & Resiliency aid communities to overcome economic and social decay in a policy vacuum.

University of Ulster

Oral Presentation

2014

Economic status has an impact on health status (Stuckler, et., al, 2009), moreover determinants of health are either endogenous or exogenous (Hollander & Staatsen, 2003). Thus Hollander & Staatsen proclaim that the concept of health should be seen as a dynamic equilibrium that emphasises the interaction between determinants, resulting in a particular state of health. This research will present the findings from an empirical study utilising international indices, such as Sense of community index (SCI) (Chavis, 2008) on a village in County Sligo., it will further outline methods of evaluation in terms of their qualitative and quantitative aspects. The Epistemological approach will be in the Interpretivism paradigm, which Grey (2004:20) argues in essence is an anti-positivist stance, which looks for culturally derived and historically situated interpretations of the social life-world. Furthermore the findings will give local government, designer's etc. greater insight into developing more convivial community design strategies which respond better to the actual desires of their residents based on the essence and story of place, thus improving health and quality of life