Urban Health Inequalities

This is a consolidated research group with a long-standing track record in studying social and environmental determinants of health in urban contexts and their unequal distribution across population groups. The group analyzes the mechanisms shaping health inequalities and evaluates urban and public health policies, health promotion strategies, and community interventions. Its work aims to generate actionable evidence to inform policies and improve population health and health equity. The group’s main objective is to advance knowledge on the determinants of health in urban areas and their unequal distribution across population groups and to evaluate the impact of public policies on population health.

Consolidated group of the Sant Pau Research Institute that belongs to:

Main Lines of Research

• Health effects of environmental exposures: including air pollution, environmental noise, and climate change, as well as other characteristics of the urban environment, and the analysis of their distribution and impact on population health in urban settings. (Font, Laia; Marí, Marc; Oliveres, Laura).
• Housing and health: study of the mechanisms linking residential insecurity, housing conditions, and energy poverty with health outcomes and evaluation of housing policies and interventions such as housing cooperatives in cession of use. (Carrere, Juli; Fernández, Anna).
• Health impact assessment of urban planning and environmental policies: particularly those aimed at reducing air pollution and environmental noise (e.g., Eixos Verds, Protegim les escoles), including road safety interventions and policies for climate change mitigation and adaptation such as climate shelters. (Pérez, Catherine; Gómez, Anna).
• Promotion of equitable and healthy relationships and prevention of gender violence: evaluation of programs aimed at improving the health and well-being of children, adolescents, and young people in school settings from an intersectional perspective. (Pérez, Glòria; Juárez, Olga; Puig, Vanessa).
• Working conditions and health: analysis of the health effects of unemployment, job insecurity, involuntary part-time work, and time poverty, considering both paid employment and unpaid domestic and care work. (Cortés, Imma; Artazcoz, Lucía).
• Inequalities in prevention and health promotion: study of social inequalities in preventive services such as vaccination and early detection programs, and development and evaluation of interventions aimed at reducing these inequalities. (Valmajor, Sara; Asensio, Alba).
• Community health programs at the neighborhood level: evaluation of programs implemented within the framework of Barcelona Salut als Barris and analysis of the mechanisms influencing their effectiveness in reducing social inequalities in health. (Pasarín, Maribel; Daban, Ferran).
• Determinants of safe, healthy, and sustainable diets: evaluation of policies, surveillance programs, and interventions related to food environments, marketing, production systems, and consumption patterns. (Rodríguez-Sanz, Maica; Portaña, Samuel).
• Social inequalities in health: analysis of health inequalities across axes such as gender, social class, territory, age, and ethnicity, including the study of intersectionality and the social construction and measurement of social class and its impact on health. (Borrell, Carme; Artazcoz, Lucía).

Contact

Juli Carrere
jcarrere@aspb.cat