Abstract
Studies about socio-environmental determinants are recognized as important to better understand the factors that influence health and quality of life, and how they operate to generate inequalities. This article reports the mapping of socio-environmental determinants of health, carried out by community health agents from the community of Paraisópolis, the second-largest slum in the city of São Paulo (state of São Paulo), seeking to analyze potential contributions of this participatory process to urban management and planning. As part of an action research study and following the stages of Paulo Freire’s Research Itinerary (Culture Circles), the mapping was carried out by integrating the Talking Map technique with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), in what has been called Participatory GIS or Geographic Information Systems with Social Participation (PGIS). Positive aspects were recognized and addressed by community agents, as well as several situations of socio-environmental vulnerability as a result of the agglomerated nature of the place, directly related to urban management and planning needs. This shows that, through a participatory mapping process, citizens cannot only better identify, but also more effectively communicate their needs and qualify intervention strategies in the territory. Therefore, it is possible to address the residents’ priorities more representatively, especially in places where traditionally marginalized social groups live. And also, community health agents, who play a central role in this research process because they live and work in the same place, are fundamental to boost, mobilize, and support the complex aspects involved, both in Primary Health Care, as well as in urban management and planning.
Highlights
The socio-environmental determinants of health, that is, the various individual, social, and macro-structural factors that condition and determine people’s health and quality of life (CSDH, 2008; Sobral and Freitas, 2010), were recognized and mapped by community health agents (CHAs) in the territory covered by Paraisópolis II Basic Health Unit (BHU), in the community of Paraisópolis, city of São Paulo
Together with other health professionals, CHAs are part of Family Health Strategy (FHS) teams that carry out individual and collective actions, especially in education and health promotion and disease prevention, at people’s homes or in a community context, in a certain area attached to a reference BHU, according to the guidelines for Preventive Health and Primary Health Care of the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS)
Participatory mapping shows itself as a powerful instrument to stimulate participatory urban management and planning, integrating different social players, especially in towns with traditionally marginalized social groups
Summary
The socio-environmental determinants of health, that is, the various individual, social, and macro-structural factors that condition and determine people’s health and quality of life (CSDH, 2008; Sobral and Freitas, 2010), were recognized and mapped by community health agents (CHAs) in the territory covered by Paraisópolis II Basic Health Unit (BHU), in the community of Paraisópolis, city of São Paulo (state of São Paulo). In the specific setting of this research, Paraisópolis community, located in Vila Andrade, Morumbi neighborhood, in the southern zone of the city of São Paulo (SP), several problems directly and indirectly impact the health of the local population: absent or poor basic sanitation, unhealthy housing, presence of disease vector animals, among others that are associated with incomplete urbanization projects, especially due to political issues involving administration changes that intensify degradation of the territory, situations of vulnerability, and social exclusion (Maziviero and Silva, 2018). The approach of socio-environmental determinants is considered in the Health Impact Assessment (HIA), recommended by the WHO and widely disseminated and used in other countries, associated with environmental licensing processes of large enterprises, which require planned and complex actions This methodology, still not widely used in Brazil, analyzes, in association with the social players involved, both positive and negative aspects of health resulting from interventions in a territory, whether originating from projects, programs, plans, or public policies. It is acknowledged that the mobilizing potential of mapping socio-environmental determinants is still little explored by interdisciplinary urban studies, which could strengthen the institutional mechanisms of urban planning and social control at the local level
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
