Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T18:09:09.378Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

RESEARCH ARTICLE: Healthy Cities Fighting against Chronic Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2015

Gerson Luis Schwab ,
Simone Tetu Moysés ,
Beatriz Helena Sottile França ,
Renata Iani Werneck ,
Erica Frank  and
Samuel Jorge Moysés
Gerson Luis Schwab*
Affiliation:
Gerson Luis Schwab, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), School of Health and Biosciences, Curitiba, Brazil
Simone Tetu Moysés
Affiliation:
Simone Tetu Moysés, Beatriz Helena Sottile França, and Renata Iani Werneck, Dental Postgraduate Programme of the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), Curitiba, Brazil
Beatriz Helena Sottile França
Affiliation:
Simone Tetu Moysés, Beatriz Helena Sottile França, and Renata Iani Werneck, Dental Postgraduate Programme of the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), Curitiba, Brazil
Renata Iani Werneck
Affiliation:
Simone Tetu Moysés, Beatriz Helena Sottile França, and Renata Iani Werneck, Dental Postgraduate Programme of the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), Curitiba, Brazil
Erica Frank
Affiliation:
Erica Frank, School of Population and Public Health of the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver BC, Canada; Samuel Jorge Moysés, Doctor and Teacher on the Dental Postgraduate Programme of the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR) and Tutor, Curitiba, Brazil.
Samuel Jorge Moysés
Affiliation:
Simone Tetu Moysés, Beatriz Helena Sottile França, and Renata Iani Werneck, Dental Postgraduate Programme of the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), Curitiba, Brazil
*
Address correspondence to: Gerson Luis Schwab, Rua Mato Grosso, 80, apto. 403, Curitiba – PR, postcode 80620-070, Brazil; (phone) 55 41 3242-4685; (e-mail) glschwab@hotmail.com
Get access

Abstract

Urban health is strongly linked to mental illness, being overweight, smoking behaviors, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and coronary disease; most of these are chronic diseases/conditions. Healthy Cities and Cittaslow are urban initiatives that acknowledge the importance of such societal and cultural contexts and factors as social determinants of health, whereas the more commonly considered factors such as access and use of health care services often have less impact. Changes in social environment and lifestyle are now major determinants of risk and disease at all ages. Based on the principles of Healthy Cities and Cittaslow, this research aimed to establish comparisons and formulate plausible hypotheses for the relationship between healthy cities and chronic diseases/conditions. It is a qualitative observational and comparative study from a socio-anthropological perspective carried out in five cities. Improved capacity of local communities to identify and address problems could be the best outcome from Healthy Cities and Cittaslow. The capacity to change urban environments and social habits to ones that promote a healthier lifestyle may help to lessen the impact of chronic diseases/conditions.

Environmental Practice 17: 16–24 (2015)

Type
Features
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 16 - 24
Copyright
© National Association of Environmental Professionals 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashton, J. 1992. Healthy Cities. Open University Press, UK, 235 pp.Google Scholar
Awofeso, N. 2003. The Healthy Cities Approach—Reflections on a Framework for Improving Global Health. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 81(3):222–223.Google ScholarPubMed
Baum, F., Jolleyi, G., Hicks, R., Saint, K., and Parker, S.. 2006. What Makes for Sustainable Healthy Cities Initiatives? A Review of the Evidence from Noarlunga, Australia after 18 Years. Health Promotion International 21(4):259–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloom, D.E., Cafiero, E.T., Jané-Llopis, E., Abrahams-Gessel, S., Bloom, L.R., and Fathima, S.. 2011. The Global Economic Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases. World Economic Forum, Geneva. Available at www.weforum.org/EconomicsOfNCD (accessed December 15, 2012).Google Scholar
Cardoso, R. 1986. Aventuras de Antropólogos em campo ou como Escapar das Armadilhas do Método. In A Aventura Antropológica: Teoria e Pesquisa. Cardoso, R., (org). Paz e Terra, Rio de Janeiro, 95–105.Google Scholar
Cittaslow. 2011. Official website. Available at http://www.cittaslow.org/section/association (accessed June 30, 2011).Google Scholar
DaMatta, R. 1997. A Casa e a Rua. Editora Rocco, Rio de Janeiro, 164 pp.Google Scholar
DeLeeuw, E. 2009. Evidence for Healthy Cities: Reflections on Practice, Method and Theory. Health Promotion International 24(Suppl. 1):i1–i3.Google Scholar
DeLeeuw, E. 2012. Evaluating WHO Healthy Cities in Europe: Issues and perspectives. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. Available at http://healthinequalities.thehealthwell.info/journal/evaluating-who-healthy-cities-europe-issues-and-perspectives (accessed May 13, 2013), doi:10.1007/s11524-012-9767-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durham, E.R. 1986. A Pesquisa Antropológica com Populações Urbanas: Problemas e Perspectivas. In A Aventura Antropológica: Teoria e Pesquisa. Cardoso, R., (org). Paz e Terra, Rio de Janeiro, 17–37.Google Scholar
Eckert, C., and Rocha, A.L.C.. 2008. Etnografia: Saberes e Práticas. Iluminuras 9(21). Available at http://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/iluminuras/article/view/9301 (accessed August 27, 2013).Google Scholar
Geertz, C. 2001. Nova Luz Sobre a Antropologia. Jorge Zahar, Rio de Janeiro, 248 pp.Google Scholar
Hancock, T. 1993. The Evolution, Impact and Significance of the Healthy Cities/Health Communities Movement. Journal of Public Health Policy 14(1):5–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hancock, T. 2000. Healthy Communities Must Also Be Sustainable Communities. Public Health Reports 115:151–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ison, E. 2009. The Introduction of Health Impact Assessment in the WHO European Healthy Cities Network. Health Promotion International 24(Suppl. 1):i64–i71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kegler, M.C., Twiss, J.M., and Look, V.. 2000. Assessing Community Change at Multiple Levels: The Genesis of an Evaluation Framework for the California Healthy Cities Project. Health Education & Behavior 27(6):760–779.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lévi-Strauss, C. 2008. O Pensamento Selvagem, 8th edition. Papirus, Campinas, SP, 320 pp.Google Scholar
Magnani, J.G.C.. 1999. As Cidades de Tristes Trópicos. Revista Antropológica São Paulo 42:1–2.Google Scholar
Magnani, J.G.C. 2002. De Perto e de Dentro: Notas para Uma Etnografia Urbana. Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais 17(49):11–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendes, E.V. 2011. As Redes de Atenção à Saúde. Brasília, Organização Pan-Americana de Saúde (OPAS), Conselho Nacional de Secretários de Saúde (CONASS), 554 pp.Google Scholar
Montero-Souto, P. 2012. The Urban Question in the New Millennium. In Pedagogía Social, Ciudadanía y Vida Urbana: Realidades y Perspectivas Educativas de la Sostenibilidad Em las Ciudades Españolas. Departamento de Teoría de la Educación, Historia de la Educación y Pedagogía Social, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. Available at http://dspace.usc.es/bitstream/10347/6084/1/rep_225.pdf (accessed July 14, 2012).Google Scholar
O’Neill, M., and Simard, P.. 2006. Choosing Indicators to Evaluate Healthy Cities Projects: A Political Task? Health Promotion International 21(2):145–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). 2011. Non-Communicable Diseases in the Americas: Building a Healthier Future. PAHO, Washington, DC. Available at http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=14832&Itemid= (accessed February 15, 2012).Google Scholar
Pawson, R. 2001. Evidence Based Policy: II. The Promise of ‘Realist Synthesis’. ESRC Centre for Evidence Based Policy and Practice, London. Available at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/politicaleconomy/research/cep/pubs/papers/assets/wp4.pdf (accessed September 24, 2014).Google Scholar
Radstron, S. 2011. A Place Sustaining Framework for Local Urban Identity: An Introduction and History of Cittaslow. IJPP Italian Journal of Planning Practice 1(1):90–113.Google Scholar
Schneider, S., and Schmitt, C.J.. 1998. O Uso do Método Comparativo nas Ciências Sociais. Cadernos de Sociologia Porto Alegre 9(1):49–87.Google Scholar
Tasca, R. 2011. (coord.) Redes e Regionalização em Saúde no Brasil e na Itália: Lições Aprendidas e Contribuições para o Debate. Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde, Brasília, 130 pp.Google Scholar
Tsouros, A. 2009. City Leadership for Health and Sustainable Development: The World Health Organization European Healthy Cities Network. Health Promotion International 24(Suppl. 1):i1–i3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Velho, G., and Kuschnir, K.. 2003 (orgs.) Pesquisas Urbanas: Desafios do Trabalho Antropológico. Jorge Zahar, Rio de Janeiro, 235 pp.Google Scholar
Whitfield, M., Machaczek, K., and Green, G.. 2012. Developing a Model to Estimate the Potential Impact of Municipal Investment on City Health. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 90(Suppl. 1):62–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WHO. 2011. WHO—Global Status Report on Non-Communicable Diseases 2010. Italy, WHO Library. Available at http://www.who.int/nmh/publications/ncd_report2010/en/ (accessed June 21, 2011).Google Scholar
WHO, Regional Office for Europe. 2013. Healthy Cities. Available at http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/urban-health/activities/healthy-cities (accessed February 26, 2013).Google Scholar