Political economies of health are not only national in scale; they are reproduced at the local level. Policies and practices, created and enforced by local government entities, determine who is welcomed, who is counted, and who holds power. This session draws on the coupled disciplines of urban planning and social work – two fields tasked with protecting local community-level health and well-being – to examine how who is welcomed, who is counted, and who holds power determines health outcomes. These themes will be supported with case examples of feminist neighborhood political ecology, changing political units, and place-based power dynamics that prevent communities from attaining full health and well-being. Panelists will incorporate diverse jurisdictional and geographical boundaries to explore how these themes present in cities, suburbs, unincorporated territories, borders, and rural areas across the US.

This interactive session will feature researchers who are countering traditional boundaries of place and power through innovative methods and approaches to meet the needs of rural and urban communities. The first segment of the panel will focus on a discussion of participatory methods that confront local power dynamics, bring visibility to uncounted populations, and reverse political and social exclusion. Each researcher will share their story and experience utilizing participatory research methodologies within and outside the fields of social work and planning. In the second segment of the presentation panelists will conclude with a reflection on the potential for greater municipal level cross-sector partnerships to achieve a culture of health and engage the audience in a discussion related to place and power with the goal of reflecting on cross-disciplinary experiences.

Session Chair: Patrice Williams
Presenters: Monica Gutierrez, Cristina Gomez-Vidal, Kristi Roybal, Jennifer Whittaker

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At its core, the field of global health strives to create more equitable relationships between people and places around the world. However, the contemporary global health discourse lacks critical consideration of the historical background, political context, and disproportionate power dynamics of the current, Western-dominated system. Nearly every aspect of global health from agenda-setting to financing, funding, data collection, publishing, and research dissemination is dominated by the Global North. For example, of the 198 global health organizations around the world, less than 15% are located outside of North America or Western Europe (Global Health 50/50, 2019). Also, a number of recent studies have highlighted the fact that African researchers are under-represented in first and last authorship positions in papers published from research conducted in Africa (Mbaye et al., 2019; Hedt-Gauthier et al., 2019). This discussion brings together researchers, policymakers, and others interested in identifying and correcting some of the pervasive power imbalances in global health that contribute to these inequities. By critically engaging with the shortcomings of our current global health system, we demonstrate how we can work across disciplines towards more equitable global health practice. First, we discuss how policies that are meant to improve public health can exacerbate global inequities by not accounting for the priorities and expertise of local communities. Next, we present results from qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals who deployed to the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic to illustrate the harms that can arise as a result of relying on a Western-centric approach to healthcare volunteerism. Then, we examine ongoing trends in persistent colonization of global health that still exist through informal venues such as foreign policy. Finally, we address the extent to which accessibility of data on underserved populations can lead to further exploitation and stigmatization, and the limitations of “informed consent” in these contexts. We incorporate both research and professional experiences to inform this conversation, and will close with a moderated discussion including a synthesis of our presentations, actionable ways to decolonize global health, and strategies to overcome systemic barriers that may impede that goal. This discussion highlights the importance and challenges of cross-cultural collaborations, and lessons learned that can inform true collaborative transnational partnerships and effective global health research, practice, and policy.

Session Chair: Attia Goheer
Presenters: Denise St. Jean, Ezinne Nwankwo, Ans Irfan, Chioma Woko

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Due to the current pandemic, #IAPHS2020 was held as a virtual conference. Join us to hear from conference co-chairs, Dr. Jennifer Karas Montez and Dr. Shannon Monnat to recap the conference held September 30 – October 2, 2020.

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