Favela street art – Rio
Gina Lovasi presented recent urban health work at the “Evidence for Action in Policy and Programs for Urban Health” plenary session of Place and Health, the 13th International Conference on Urban Health in San Francisco. Gina described two community health diagnosis efforts, designed to address health needs and opportunities in vibrant but vulnerable areas of New York City and Rio de Janeiro by considering the entire community as a ‘patient’ in need of treatment recommendations. These focused local research translations complemented the global and national perspective presented by co-panelists Eugenie Birch and Waleska Teixeira Caiaffa. A key take home message: local residents and stakeholders needed information not only about what investments in public spaces could improve health, but also what conditions or processes would maximize those benefits.
