Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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In highly urbanized and unequal Latin America, urban health and health equity research are essential to effective policymaking. To ensure the application of relevant and context-specific evidence to efforts to reduce urban health inequities, urban health research in Latin America must incorporate strategic research translation efforts. Beginning in 2017, the Urban Health in Latin America (SALURBAL) project implemented policy-relevant research and engaged policymakers and the public to support the translation of research findings. ⋯ These efforts and their outcomes reveal important lessons regarding maintaining flexibility and accounting for local context in research, ensuring that resources are dedicated to policy engagement and dissemination activities, and recognizing that assessing policy impact requires a nuanced understanding of complex policymaking processes. These reflections are relevant for promoting urban health and health equity research translation across the global south and worldwide. This paper presents SALURBAL's strategy for dissemination and policy translation, highlights innovative initiatives and their outcomes, discusses lessons learned, and shares recommendations for future efforts to promote effective translation of research findings.
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Review
Urban Environments, Health, and Environmental Sustainability: Findings From the SALURBAL Study.
Despite the relevance of cities and city policies for health, there has been limited examination of large numbers of cities aimed at characterizing urban health determinants and identifying effective policies. The relatively few comparative studies that exist include few cities in lower and middle income countries. The Salud Urbana en America Latina study (SALURBAL) was launched in 2017 to address this gap. ⋯ Beyond these aims SALURBAL, has an overarching goal of supporting collaborative policy relevant research and capacity -building that engages individuals and institutions from across Latin America. In this review we provide an update on the SALURBAL data resource and collaborative approach and summarize key findings from the first aim of the study. We also describe key elements of our approach, challenges we have faced and how we have overcome them, and identify key opportunities to support policy relevant evidence generation in urban health for the future.
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The contributions of informal providers to the urban health system and their linkage to the formal health system require more evidence. This paper highlights the collaborations that exist between informal providers and the formal health system and examines how these collaborations have contributed to strengthening urban health systems in sub-Sahara Africa. The study is based on a scoping review of literature that was published from 2011 to 2023 with a focus on slums in sub-Sahara Africa. ⋯ Additionally, there were numerous instances of client referrals, either from informal to formal providers or from formal to informal providers. However, the review also indicates that these collaborations are unformalized, unsystematic, and largely undocumented. This undermines the potential contributions of informal providers to the urban health system.
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The contributions of informal providers to the urban health system and their linkage to the formal health system require more evidence. This paper highlights the collaborations that exist between informal providers and the formal health system and examines how these collaborations have contributed to strengthening urban health systems in sub-Sahara Africa. The study is based on a scoping review of literature that was published from 2011 to 2023 with a focus on slums in sub-Sahara Africa. ⋯ Additionally, there were numerous instances of client referrals, either from informal to formal providers or from formal to informal providers. However, the review also indicates that these collaborations are unformalized, unsystematic, and largely undocumented. This undermines the potential contributions of informal providers to the urban health system.
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According to the Global Food Policy Report 2017, nearly 90% of the projected urban population increase by 2050 is going to be concentrated in Africa and Asia. Parallel evidence suggests that poverty and related challenges of food insecurity and undernutrition are also urbanizing. The dynamics underlying urban nutrition is different from rural ones but also arguably represents a more complex scenario. ⋯ Noticeably, this literature also draws upon successful interventions having implications for urban nutrition. Finally, the review identifies a few research gaps that hinder a holistic view of urban nutrition. These gaps pertain to gender, equity, water (along with sanitation and hygiene), and local governance.