About

Professor Lynne M. Dearborn's research focuses on the mutual interaction of people and their environments, particularly the relationship between residential environments and cultural change. She studies diverse populations including the Hmong of Southeast Asia and Hmong immigrants in the US, African Americans in inner-city neighborhoods, and Native Americans. Her work emphasizes issues of social justice and equity among minority peoples, engaging physical, social, economic, and political aspects of the environment to address human health and well-being as well as the preservation of cultural heritage. She is heavily involved in FAA’s Illinois Action Research and her courses and research address these critical social and cultural issues.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Business
• Finance
• Environmental health
• Public economics
• Environmental engineering
• Environmental science
• Engineering
• Psychology
• Gerontology
• Civil engineering
• Economics
• Medicine
• Economic growth

Selected publications

• Residential choice and fit in a Milwaukee refugee enclave

  2024-01-15

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Many people on the move globally are forced to leave their homes because of economic conditions, climate change, natural disasters, persecution, and armed conflict. These displaced people often suffer abrupt departures, perilous journeys, and unsafe conditions, experiences that have powerful lasting effects as they become refugees and migrate to host countries that are often socially, culturally, and physically very unlike their places of origin. Residential choice, the process of selecting one’s housing environment, is integral to refugees’ successful resettlement and well-being. Residential choice enables refugees to improve the fit between their household’s values, needs, and desires and the qualities (e.g., physical conditions, tenure, location) of their residential environment. Focusing on residential fit, this chapter employs several of Amos Rapoport’s theoretical concepts to examine the refugee residential choice process (RCP) within the Allied Churches Teaching Self-Sufficiency (ACTS) Landmark Housing Program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rapoport’s framework for residential choice is operationalized through an exploration of participants’ housing ideals, goals, and outcomes and associated environmental qualities. A comparative analysis of households’ environmental quality profiles (EQPs) enables an understanding of the qualities of the ideal residential environments these refugees seek, a critical step in addressing the long-term mental and physical health consequences of forced displacement. The chapter’s analytical model is timely, given the growing number of refugees worldwide and the diverse resettlement goals of receiving societies.

  PublisherDOI

• Understanding Staff and Student Experiences at McKinley Health Center

  2024-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Contemporary preoccupation with physical and mental well-being demands that we study physical environments to ensure they contribute to overall wellness. Despite scarce research probing them, student health centers on university campuses are no exception. The environments of campus health centers must encourage university students’ mental and physical wellbeing while offering preventative and acute health services and providing a supportive work environmentfor staff. The McKinley Health Center, housed in a 97-year-old building, exists to provide university students with professionalprimary, specialized, and emergency healthcare and to serve as a campus center for medications, resources, and health education. This mission provided a framework for a post-occupancy study of the facility to structure advice for architectural renovations to improve staff and student experiences. Two research questions focused the study’s mixed methods research design.How do current environmental conditions at the facility influence experiences of student-patients, and staff, and staff-student interactions?What physical-environment changes would improve these?We collected data through observation of physical traces, building-document analysis, two surveys administered to distinct user populations, and content from public online facility reviews. Through descriptive, content, and the maticanalyses, we identified way finding, indoor environmental quality, and student-staff interactions as prominent themes in the experiences of student-patients as they seek care and health resources; and staff as they go through their daily work activities. McKinley’s floor plan complexity underpins severe way finding challenges that frustrate student-patients and distract staff. Among our redesign suggestions, we propose color-coded wings to provide redundant cognitive cues, simplify directions, and ease patient anxiety. The introduction of color can also transform an environment perceived as “grey” and “boring”. This relatively straightforward intervention can augment clearer signage. We believe this design approach can improve both student-patient and staff experiences and reflect an environment supportive of the student health and wellbeing priorities of the university.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Aging in place

  2024-01-15

  book-chapterSenior author

  Support through built environment factors is key to enabling older adults to age in place successfully. Identifying appropriate types of environmental support for aging in place requires a comprehensive understanding of social, cultural, and physical aspects within residential settings. This chapter employs Rapoport’s approach to dismantling culture to identify a concrete and specific expression of culture: food-related activities and their associated systems of settings. Through the Food-Related Activities Engagement and Adaptation Study (FEAST), we analyze older women’s aging-in-place experience through their engagement in food-related activities. This chapter highlights two case studies to illustrate the similarities and differences in culture’s manifestation within participants’ routines, preferences, and challenges as they prepare, cook, eat, and clean at their respective houses. To demonstrate how culture manifests in food-related activity systems, layers of cultural expressions are unraveled in three examples: division of tasks, maintenance of control in the kitchen, and connectivity of activities and space when hosting guests. This study reveals that food-related settings carry deeper meanings that represent older women’s agency, authority, and identity. Therefore, considering cultural values and everyday practices in food-related activities engagement and associated settings is critical to successful aging-in-place experiences of older women, particularly to ensure continued engagement with food-related activities.

  PublisherDOI

• Shaping a Healthier LIHTC Housing Stock: Examining the Role of States’ Qualified Allocation Plans

  Housing Policy Debate · 2022 · 6 citations

  • Political Science
  • Business
  • Finance

  The physical environment has a powerful impact on our physical and mental health, especially in our homes. One vehicle for advancing a healthier affordable housing stock is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). The aim of this research was to examine the manner and extent to which various housing quality provisions pertaining to health are embedded in the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) of the LIHTC program. From content analysis of the QAP of each of the 50 states and a survey of state housing finance agencies (HFAs), results revealed that: the most frequently required healthy housing provisions address housing quality, whereas the most incentivized ones address proximity to neighborhood services and amenities; few states bundle high-priority provisions relevant to asthma, respiratory health and toxic exposures, which are major health concerns for vulnerable children; the top two motivators for considering healthy housing provisions in the LIHTC process were “championship and initiation by agency staff” and “learning of similar practices in other states”; among other findings. Recommendations are made for HFA practices, and directions for future research are proposed.

  PublisherDOI

• OLDER INDONESIAN WOMEN’S EXPERIENCE TO MAINTAIN INDEPENDENCE IN FOOD-RELATED ACTIVITIES

  Innovation in Aging · 2022

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Psychology
  • Gerontology

  Abstract The ability to conduct food-related activities such as cooking, eating, and cleaning are central to older adults’ health. Such ability is especially critical for older women who are more likely to live alone or become caregivers for their spouses and other family members. We investigated the experience of older Indonesian women, an understudied population in aging research, when engaging in food-related activities. Using the grounded theory approach, we examined the challenges and adaptive behavior of twelve community-dwelling older women in Indonesia (60+) when conducting food-related activities at home. We employed two data collection strategies: photo and video elicitation, followed by an interview. Through photo and video elicitation, participants took photos and videos of the space where they conducted food-related activities to provide physical environmental data. In the interview, participants explained their routine, activity challenges, and adaptation strategies in food-related activities. We discovered that participants’ view of their role in cooking food for the family is central to their sense of identity. When faced with age-related challenges, participants accepted assistance from others for activities less connected to food production, such as sweeping, mopping, or cleaning the kitchen. However, they are less likely to accept assistance for cooking activities. Instead, they adapted by modifying the physical environment, simplifying the tasks, and adjusting the method to remain engaged in cooking. Older Indonesian women’s cultural identity influenced their strategy to face age-related challenges and maintain independence. This finding highlights the importance of a culturally sensitive approach when planning support for older adults.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Implementation of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in Multi-Family Affordable Housing: A Case Study

  Construction Research Congress 2022 · 2020 · 1 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Environmental science
  • Computer Science

  The impact of indoor air quality (IAQ) on occupant health is undeniable because we spend a majority of our time indoors. This means the design and construction of multi-family rental buildings have potential health impacts for low-income families. The low-income-housing-tax-credit (LIHTC) federal program, administrated by state housing finance agencies, provides a policy system that can improve building quality, potentially influencing occupant health. Recent assessments on LIHTC’s criteria showed the effectiveness of this program to advance better-quality housing. However, there is no study on IAQ-related criteria for building design and construction (BDC) of LIHTC buildings. This paper aims to assess the IAQ implementation process, to explore what practices developers utilized and how these practices improved IAQ. Using a qualitative approach, one case study of a rehabilitation project in Washington, DC, is analyzed. A 2014-study showed IAQ improvements in this project after renovation. Semi-structured interviews with the developer of this LIHTC-project revealed that ventilation is the most challenging IAQ strategy for a rehabilitation project. The project utilized integrative design and multi-criteria decision making as the practical tools for IAQ implementation practices. This research offers guidance for building practitioners to improve the green and healthy aspects of affordable housing.

  PublisherDOI

• Increasing Interdisciplinary Dialogue about What Matters for K-12 Students’ Mental Health

  2020-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Recent media coverage spotlights the burgeoning mental health crisis among adolescents and teens, amplifying the need to understand influences on student mental health. This secondary-source research project details findings from built-environment-focused studies of factors found to influence student mental health and studies published in top educational psychology journals examining the relationship of schools’ built and learning environments to K-12 students’ mental health. The study employs an ecological model as its framework, whereby students are conceptualized as affected by varying levels of environment ranging from micro to macro systems.1 The influence of the built environment on student mental health is often ignored; existing research linking student mental health to the built environment is scant. Factors in educational environments that impact student mental health include the presence of vegetation or nature, pleasant vistas, day-lighting, noise, material qualities of the environment, and classroom organization. Just as presence of nature and interior materiality have an impact on mental health, so do factors on which educational psychologists focus, such as social relationships, stress, and academic achievement. Current educational psychology literature fails to address the potential of the built environment for mental health, instead focusing primarily on the learning environment. Broadening the discussion in educational psychology to include built environment factors might reduce students’ anxiety levels, among other significant impacts on students’ health and wellbeing. Many people, decisions, programs, and initiatives can positively impact student health outcomes. In presenting this research, we hope to increase awareness and fuel discussions about the positive influence that the built environment of schools can have on student mental health and to propagate fruitful interdisciplinary dialogue and initiatives. Collaboration has the potential to engender a situation where students are educated in environments more supportive of positive mental health outcomes and contribute to reversing the mental health crisis among youth.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Erasure and appearance

  2019-12-23 · 2 citations

  book-chapterSenior author

  The concept of erasure permeates contemporary debates in urban heritage management. Increasing pressure on heritage sites to fulfil economic goals and allow local populations to benefit from development while respecting diverse attributes of the physical and socio-cultural fabric is a key challenge for urban heritage management in the twenty-first century. This chapter argues that the erasures accompanying much of heritage development link to commensurate appearances in a reciprocal process with conscious and unconscious components. The theoretical scaffold of the erasure–appearance dyad (EAD) introduces the structure of this chapter. Components of the EAD and its operative processes within urban heritage management, practices and policies that describe, prescribe, and proscribe, are examined with respect to specific sites in Laos, Vietnam, China, and Thailand. Heritage management documents and associated contextual conditions are then explored for two ancient towns inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, Luang Prabang and Hoi An, and for two sites on UNESCO’s Tentative List, Zhouzhuang and Chiang Mai. These cases illustrate the explicit and implicit dimensions of descriptions, prescriptions, and proscriptions as important components of the EAD. The chapter concludes by proposing that greater awareness of the EAD might inform construction of multiple urban heritage narratives and how those multiple narratives can enrich ‘heritage-scapes’ for residents and visitors.

  PublisherDOI

• Moving from Service-Learning to Professional Practice:

  2018-03-22

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Nature and the City: Measuring the Attention Restoration Benefits of Singapore’s Urban Vertical Greenery

  Technology|Architecture + Design · 2018-07-03 · 12 citations

  article

  A considerable amount of research has shown that views of nature can provide psychological benefits. Attention restoration—short, mentally restorative moments away from difficult tasks (Kaplan 1995)—is one such benefit with far-reaching consequences. Attention Restoration Theory provides an analysis of the kinds of experiences that lead to recovery from such fatigue. Natural environments turn out to be particularly rich in the characteristics necessary for restorative experiences. An integrative framework is proposed that places both directed attention and stress in the larger context of human-environment relationships. The purpose of this study is to pilot a method that could be used to determine if similar attention restoration benefits can be achieved with integration of natural elements into high-rise buildings as compared to traditional, in-the-ground foliage in Singapore. Singaporean residents of three high-rises with different views (in-the-ground foliage, vertical garden foliage, and no foliage) were surveyed using the Perceived Restorativeness Scale. Residents with views of in-the-ground foliage reported the highest restorative value across the three sites. Results from this study highlight the potential benefits and challenges of measuring greening initiatives.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• John C. Stallmeyer

  9 shared

• Laura Lawson

  3 shared

• Arezou Sadoughi

  Appalachian State University

  2 shared

• Stacy Anne Harwood

  2 shared

• Sherry Ahrentzen

  2 shared

• Widya Ramadhani

  2 shared

• Ali Momen-Heravi

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  1 shared

• Cristina Dekker

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  1 shared

Education

• PhD, Architecture

  University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

  2004