Mode of Program Participation
Performances and Arts
Participation Type
Performance
Session Title
Constructing Health Through the Built Environment: A Film and Photoanalytic Presentation
Presentation #1 Title
Constructing Health Through the Built Environment: A Film and Photoanalytic Presentation
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
The project explores several concepts to examine how “place” shapes the health of the people that live in that space. In the field of land use and planning the argument is made that to understand spatial policies, e.g., policies that define and control space, one must embrace the idea that space and society mutually construct each other. To put it more simply one might say that places by themselves have no meaning. Rather it is the interpretation by people of events, facts, and the built and natural environment that turns “nowhere” into somewhere. The project explores place and health through the use of photography and video. Just as money is speech so do the photos of the community become the speech that they use to amplify their voice. Photovoice or participatory photo analysis (PPA) is a process by which citizens identify, represent, and communicate their vision through a specific photographic technique. The project put cameras in the hands of community residents plus WVU medical students in Charleston. The participants took photos of the West Side and wrote about the significance of those photos. Next, the project examines how we practice medicine in the U. S. and define health in light of the places that our bodies inhabit. In the practice of medicine, we view the body as an isolated surface with internal and external features that we can decipher to determine good or poor health. But bodies are located ‘somewhere’. Bodies and health cannot be understood without accounting for the places within which the bodies are situated. Lastly, this project explores the question of what happens to the meaning and existence of a place and the people that inhabit that space when there are competing interpretations, historical narratives, and visions for that space.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Dr. Andress has dedicated her career as a social sciences researcher and policy analyst to public service where her expertise lies in linking scholarly work with social issues, the public policy process, and community organizing.
Dr. Andress currently serves as an Assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Leadership in the School of Public Health at West Virginia University.
Constructing Health Through the Built Environment: A Film and Photoanalytic Presentation
The project explores several concepts to examine how “place” shapes the health of the people that live in that space. In the field of land use and planning the argument is made that to understand spatial policies, e.g., policies that define and control space, one must embrace the idea that space and society mutually construct each other. To put it more simply one might say that places by themselves have no meaning. Rather it is the interpretation by people of events, facts, and the built and natural environment that turns “nowhere” into somewhere. The project explores place and health through the use of photography and video. Just as money is speech so do the photos of the community become the speech that they use to amplify their voice. Photovoice or participatory photo analysis (PPA) is a process by which citizens identify, represent, and communicate their vision through a specific photographic technique. The project put cameras in the hands of community residents plus WVU medical students in Charleston. The participants took photos of the West Side and wrote about the significance of those photos. Next, the project examines how we practice medicine in the U. S. and define health in light of the places that our bodies inhabit. In the practice of medicine, we view the body as an isolated surface with internal and external features that we can decipher to determine good or poor health. But bodies are located ‘somewhere’. Bodies and health cannot be understood without accounting for the places within which the bodies are situated. Lastly, this project explores the question of what happens to the meaning and existence of a place and the people that inhabit that space when there are competing interpretations, historical narratives, and visions for that space.
