Dr. Jason Douglas
- Education:
- Stony Brook University, Bachelor of Arts
City University of New York Hunter College, Master of Arts
The Graduate School and University Center of the CUNY, Ph.D.
Biography
Jason A. Douglas is an assistant professor of public health in the Department of Health Sciences within Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences. Leveraging community-based participatory research frameworks, Douglas works with community-based organizations and residents in underserved Black and Latinx communities to investigate social and environmental determinants of public health disparities.
His current research examines COVID-19-related health disparities, food and housing insecurity-related health disparities, the nexus of crime and violence and legal drug retail locations (e.g., tobacco shops, liquor stores), public park and physical activity disparities in underserved communities, and community organizing practices for advancing health and wellbeing. In his community-engaged research, Douglas has developed and adapted innovative participatory methods for public health, including structured observation and neighborhood mapping approaches for examining novel public health challenges.
Douglas completed his environmental psychology doctoral training at the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York, wherein he worked with children from underserved communities in New York City and forest-fringe community residents in Jamaica to examine social and environmental inequities that challenge community health and wellbeing. He then honed his participatory research practice through a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded postdoctoral research fellowship in the Psychology Applied Research Center at Loyola Marymount University, where he worked with a national cohort of community-based organizations to evaluate community organizing strategies and practices for addressing health, education, and built environment disparities in underserved communities. He extended these research practices as an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at San José State University before joining Chapman University.
Teaching and Research Interests
Douglas, J. A., Subica, A. M., Franks, L., Johnson, G., Leon, C., Villanueva, S., & Grills, C. T. (2020). Using Participatory Mapping to Diagnose Upstream Determinants of Health and Prescribe Downstream Policy-Based Interventions. Preventing Chronic Disease, 17. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd17.200123
Douglas, Jason A., & Subica, A. M. (2020). COVID-19 treatment resource disparities and social disadvantage in New York City. Preventive Medicine, 141, 106282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106282
Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications
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Robinette, J. W., Bostean, G., Glynn, L. M., Douglas, J. A., Jenkins, B. N., Gruenewald, T. L., & Frederick, D. A. (2021). Perceived neighborhood cohesion buffers COVID-19 impacts on mental health in a United States sample. Social Science & Medicine, 285, 114269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114269
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Douglas, J. A. (2020). Engaging Youth in Spatial Modes of Thought Toward Social and Environmental Resilience. In S. Steinberg & S. Steinberg (Ed.), Resilient Communities: GIS Across Spatial Geographies. Redland, CA: ESRI Press.
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Douglas, J. A., Subica, A. M., Franks, L., Johnson, G., Leon, C., Villanueva, S., & Grills, C. T. (2020). Using Participatory Mapping to Diagnose Upstream Determinants of Health and Prescribe Downstream Policy-Based Interventions. Preventing Chronic Disease, 17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106282
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Douglas, J. A., & Subica, A. M. (2020). COVID-19 treatment resource disparities and social disadvantage in New York City. Preventive Medicine, 141, 106282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106282
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Douglas, J. A., Subica, A. M., Franks, L., Johnson, G., Leon, C., Villanueva, S., & Grills, C. T. (2019). Participatory Mapping for Community Empowerment and Health Equity. Proceedings of the 1st Mapping (In)Justice Symposium; Nov 7-9, New York, NY.
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Subica, A. M., & Douglas, J. A. (2019). Engaging Disadvantaged Communities in Targeting Tobacco-Related Health Disparities and Other Health Inequities. International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 40(1), 3–6. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272684X19839866
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Douglas, J. A., Archer, R. S., & Alexander, S. E. (2019). Ecological determinants of respiratory health: Examining associations between asthma emergency department visits, diesel particulate matter, and public parks and open space in Los Angeles, California. Preventive Medicine Reports, 14, 100855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100855
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Subica, A. M., Douglas, J. A., Kepple, N. J., Villanueva, S., & Grills, C. T. (2018). The geography of crime and violence surrounding tobacco shops, medical marijuana dispensaries, and off-sale alcohol outlets in a large, urban low-income community of color. Preventive Medicine, 108, 8–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.12.020
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Douglas, J. A., Briones, M. D., Bauer, E. Z., Trujillo, M., Lopez, M., & Subica, A. M. (2018). Social and environmental determinants of physical activity in urban parks: Testing a neighborhood disorder model. Preventive Medicine, 109, 119–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.01.013
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Douglas, J. A. (2016). What’s good in the ‘hood: the production of youth, nature, and knowledge. In L. Shillington & A. M. Murnaghan (Ed.), Children, Nature, and Cities. Burlinton, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company.
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Subica, A. M., Grills, C. T., Villanueva, S., & Douglas, J. A. (2016). Community Organizing for Healthier Communities: Environmental and Policy Outcomes of a National Initiative. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 51(6), 916–925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2016.06.020
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Douglas, J. A., Grills, C. T., Villanueva, S., & Subica, A. M. (2016). Empowerment Praxis: Community Organizing to Redress Systemic Health Disparities. American Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12101
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Subica, A. M., Grills, C. T., Douglas, J. A., & Villanueva, S. (2016). Communities of Color Creating Healthy Environments to Combat Childhood Obesity. American Journal of Public Health, 106(1), 79–86.
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Douglas, J. A. (2015). When ‘dem come: The Political Ecology of (Un) Sustainable Tourism in Cockpit Country, Jamaica. In K. Bosak & S. McCool (Ed.), Reframing Sustainable Tourism. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
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Grills, C., Cooke, D., Douglas, J. A., Villanueva, S., Subica, A. M., & Hudson, B. (2015). Culture, Racial Socialization, and Positive African American Youth Development. Journal of Black Psychology, 0095798415578004. http://doi.org/10.1177/0095798415578004