Energy, Equity, Housing and Health

Community Health and Environmental Justice

Environmental Risks

Dr. Hernández has had a longstanding commitment to addressing environmental and health disparities in the South Bronx, where she grew up in Section 8 housing and where her grandmother migrated to from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. As part of this commitment, Dr. Hernández had facilitated collaborations between Columbia University-based researchers and local community groups including an assessment of the impact of zoning and local development.  

In previous work, she and colleagues including Dr. Markus Hilpert and Mychal Johnson of South Bronx Unite examined environmental impacts of an online grocer.  

  1. Peters, A. Hernández, D., Kioumourtzoglou, M., Johnson, M., Chillrud, S., Hilpert, M. “Assessing neighborhood-scale traffic from crowd-sensed traffic data: Findings from an environmental justice community in New York City” Environmental Science and Policy. (2022): 155-163. 
  2. Shearston, J. A., Johnson, A. M., Domingo-Relloso, A., Kioumourtzoglou, M. A., Hernández, D., Ross, J., ... & Hilpert, M. (2020). Opening a large delivery service warehouse in the South Bronx: impacts on traffic, air pollution, and noise.International journal of environmental research and public health,17(9), 3208. 

Housing Redevelopment and Community Revitalization 

Dr. Hernández has explored the impact of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program on academic outcomes, residential satisfaction and smoking indoors. 

  1. Moore, T., Lazzeroni, S., & Hernández, D. (2021). Resident Engagement in the Context of the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program. Cityscape, 23(2), 47-66.  
  2. Hernández, D., Harned, E., Yomogida, M., Attinson, D., Giovenco, D. P., Aidala, A., ... & Howard, J. M. (2021). A New Lease on Life in Public Housing. Cityscape, 23(2), 67-94. 
  3. Hernández, D, Moore, T. Lazzeroni, S. and Nguyen, U. (2019) “The ‘projects’ are nice now: Public Housing Residents’ Perspectives on the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program” Housing Policy Debate. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2019.1586746   

In an ongoing project led by Dr. Earle Chambers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Dr. Hernández is helping to examine how neighborhood redevelopment affects the cardiovascular health of older Black and Hispanic  residents in the Bronx.

Access to Services

Dr. Hernández has examined the impact of various programs to increase access to health-related services primarily delivered in housing and community settings. Programs include legal aid, prenatal care, HIV/substance use care and treatment, and health promotion services.  

  1. Hernández, D. (2019) “Housing-based Interventions: Harnessing the Social Utility of Housing to Promote Health” American Journal of Public Health [Special Issue on ‘Innovations in Health Promotion’] Feb;109(S2): S135-S136. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304914. 
  2. Hernández, D. (2016). “‘Extra oomph:’ addressing housing disparities through Medical Legal Partnership interventions.” Housing Studies, 31(7), 871-890. 
  3. Frimpong, J. A., D’Aunno, T., Perlman, D. C., Strauss, S. M., Mallow, A., Hernández, D., ... &  Metsch, L. R. (2016). “On-site bundled rapid HIV/HCV testing in substance use disorder treatment programs: study protocol for a hybrid design randomized controlled trial.” Trials, 17(1), 1. doi: 10.1186/s13063-016-1225-4. 
  4. Hernández, D., Castellón, P., Fernández, Y., Cardona, F., Miranda de Leon, S., Vargas-Vidot, J., Schackman Be, Rodriguez, A., Feaster, D., Santana Bagur, J., Metsch, L. (2017) “When “the cure” is the risk: Understanding how substance use impacts HIV and HCV in a layered risk environment in San Juan, Puerto Rico.” Health Education & Behavior, 44(5), 748-757. 
  5. Hernández, D, Hutchinson, C., Brooks-Gunn, J., Petitclerc, A. (2019) “Client attrition in the Nurse-Family Partnership®: Revisiting metrics of impact in a home visitation program in the United States” Health and Social Care in the Community. doi: 10.1111/hsc.12748