Biography
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.
Current Projects/Studies
Leveraging community-based participatory action research, Douglas works with community-based organizations and residents in Black and historically marginalized communities to investigate and redress environmental health disparities. His work ranges from structured observation of neighborhood-level assets and challenges that may encourage or encumber health-promoting behaviors to large-scale geospatial examinations of health and place. His current research examines air pollution- and urban heat-related health disparities, legal drug retail (e.g., tobacco shops, liquor stores) siting inequities, inequitable access to recreational spaces and physical activity opportunities, and community organizing practices for advancing health and wellbeing. Supported by state and federal funding, Douglas has developed and adapted innovative participatory methodologies—e.g., structured observation and neighborhood mapping—for examining novel public health challenges.
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.
Publications
Douglas, J. A., Bostean, G., Miles Nash, A., John, E. B., Brown, L. M., & Subica, A. M. (2022). Citizenship Matters: Non-Citizen COVID-19 Mortality Disparities in New York and Los Angeles. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), 5066. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095066
Velasquez, A. J., Douglas, J. A., Guo, F., & Robinette, J. W. (2022). In the eyes of the beholder: Race, place and health. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 920637. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.920637
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
Velasquez, A. J., Douglas, J. A., Guo, F., & Robinette, J. W. (2021). What predicts how safe people feel in their neighborhoods and does it depend on functional status? SSM – Population Health, 16, 100927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100927
Bostean, G., Sánchez, L. A., & Douglas, J. A. (2021). Spatial Disparities: The Role of Nativity in Neighborhood Exposure to Alcohol and Tobacco Retailers. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-021-01277-6
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.
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
