The South Phoenix Collaborative
The South Phoenix Collaborative, managed by ASU's School of Human Evolution and Social Change, is a network of researchers, their students, and community stakeholders addressing health and environmental challenges in the South Mountain community.
South Phoenix has a rich, diverse and changing population that includes historically African American neighborhoods, and is currently around 70% Latino with some 30% of residents born outside of the U.S. (most in Mexico). These neighborhoods have disproportionate health and environmental burdens compared to others in the city, related to current and historic risk factors such as migrant status, poor quality of neighborhood amenities, lack of access to affordable healthcare and healthy food, erratic income, poor air quality, and excess heat. We are concerned with all these issues, but currently our activities particularly focus on addressing child obesity, diabetes and other issues related to poor nutrition, as these have been identified as of particular immediate concern by community members. Based on the records kept by one of our partner clinics serving this community, perhaps as many as some 50 percent of their general Latino/a pediatric population are pre-diabetic.
A particular goal is to figure out how we can best use social science research at ASU to support the amazing job - often in very challenging conditions - being done by many local agencies. We think that better understandings of history (such as how health inequities have become focused geographically), cultural processes (such as how people relate to each other), and residents' cultural knowledge (such as what people already know that works well for them) can be harnessed to build healthier and more just communities.
In dealing with any complicated challenge with social bases, multiple perspectives are invaluable. Anyone interested in joining the collective is encouraged to contact us.
