Browsing by Autor "Felipe Montes"

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Do Health Benefits Outweigh the Costs of Mass Recreational Programs? An Economic Analysis of Four Ciclovía Programs
(Springer Science+Business Media, 2011) Felipe Montes; Olga L. Sarmiento; Roberto Zarama; Michael Pratt; Guijing Wang; Enrique Jacoby; Thomas L. Schmid; Mauricio Ramos; Oscar Ruiz; Olga Vargas
Fostering collective action for adolescent well-being: citizen science in a Colombian semi-rural area
(Oxford University Press, 2024) Ana María Guerra; Eduardo De la Vega‐Taboada; Olga L. Sarmiento; Ann Banchoff; Abby C. King; Dionne P. Stephens; Luis D Revollo; Ana P Revollo; Felipe Montes
We present findings from the Our Voice in Barú project, examining adolescent engagement in citizen science to address environmental and social factors affecting well-being in a semi-rural Afro-descendant community in Latin America. The project aimed to identify barriers and enablers of well-being, informing adolescent-led actions for sustainable environmental changes relevant to adolescent health. Utilizing the Our Voice citizen science method, which involved technology-enabled walks, participatory cartography workshops and community meetings, we engaged adolescents and other community members. Complex systems framework was employed to analyze results and assess the promotion of collective action and local change. Local enablers of well-being included availability of quality sports and recreational venues as safe spaces, educational settings and cultural aspects, fostering safety, community pride, and personal growth. Conversely, barriers included environmental contamination, deteriorated sports venues and drug addiction, indicating the community's limited access to services and exposure to harmful substances. Adolescent citizen scientists, in partnership with the research team and relevant community decision-makers, successfully achieved changes aimed at identified barriers, including infrastructural enhancements like the repair of pumps to remove stagnant water, improvements in the quality and safety of recreational venues, and the implementation of community-led initiatives to address substance abuse and promote healthier behaviors. The Our Voice in Barú project empowered adolescents to advocate for change and promoted collective action to tackle barriers identified as significant to their well-being.
Our Voice in a Rural Community: Empowering Colombian Rural Adolescents to Advocate for Community Well-being through Citizen Science
(Research Square (United States), 2022) Felipe Montes; Ana María Guerra; Diana Higuera-Mendieta; Eduardo De la Vega‐Taboada; Abby C. King; Ann Banchoff; Augusto César Rodríguez Maturana; Olga L. Sarmiento
Abstract Backround: Santa Ana is home to an Afro-descendant rural population of the island of Barú in Cartagena, Colombia. While a popular area for tourism, Santa Ana’s population is affected by multidimensional poverty, precarious work conditions, homelessness, broken streets and sewer systems, limited quality education, and lack of recreation and sport spaces. While Santa Ana’s Community Action Board aims to unify efforts and resources to solve these problems, the state’s capacity to meet the requirements of the Board is limited. Methods: We evaluated the relationship between healthy lifestyles and characteristics of Santa Ana’s school using the Our Voice Citizen Science Research Method. This systemic approach combines information and communication technologies with group facilitation to empower adolescents to: 1) collect and discuss data about factors in their local environments that facilitate or hinder well-being within their school community; 2) identify relevant local stakeholders who could help to address the issues identified; and 3) advocate collectively for local improvements to support increased well-being at a community level. Results: Eleven citizen scientists ages 13 to 17 years from the science club of Institución Educativa Santa Ana were recruited and together conducted 11 walks within the school to collect data about the facilitators and barriers to student well-being. They identified barriers to well-being related to school infrastructure, furniture, bathrooms, and sense of belonging. They then advocated with school stakeholders and reached agreements on concrete actions to address identified barriers, including fostering a culture among students of caring for school property, and presenting their findings to the community action board. This methodology allowed the community to realize how students can become agents of change and take collective action when motivated by practice-focused methodologies such as Our Voice. Project ripple effects, including greater empowerment and participation in collective actions by students, also were observed. Conclusions: This study underscores the importance of the school’s built environment in the well-being of students in rural areas. The Our Voice method provided the opportunity to inform school-based interventions, and promoted ripple effects that expanded productive dialogue to the community level and generated systemic actions involving actors outside of the school community.
SISCOVID: modelos de sistemas complejos para contribuir a disminuir la transmisión de SARS-COV-2 en contextos urbanos de Colombia
(Universidad de Los Andes, 2020) Felipe Montes; José D. Meisel; Pablo Lemoine; Diana R. Higuera; Andrés F. Useche; Sofía del C. Baquero; Juliana Quintero; Diego A. Martínez; L. Idrobo Idrobo; Ana M. Jaramillo
The development and implementation of strategies to reduce SARS-CoV2 transmission is a prevailing challenge for Colombia. These strategies ought to be dynamic and specific to each region, seeking to balance health and economic impacts. This task calls for an interdisciplinary approach to ensure a holistic view of the problem. This article presents findings and results obtained from the SISCOVID project, which used simulated systemic models to support decision making and efforts to mitigate the pandemic in Colombia. The project included researchers from Universidad de Los Andes, the Centro Nacional de Consultoría (CNC) and Universidad de Ibagué, in alliance with several international universities and companies. SISCOVID helped decision makers design strategies to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission in urban contexts for the cities of Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena, and Medellín.
Spatial Segregation Patterns and Association with Built Environment Features in Colombian Cities
(RELX Group (Netherlands), 2023) Andrés F. Useche; Olga L. Sarmiento; María José Álvarez‐Rivadulla; Pablo Medina; Diana Higuera-Mendieta; Felipe Montes
Using a system dynamics model to study the obesity transition by socioeconomic status in Colombia at the country, regional and department levels
(BMJ, 2020) José D. Meisel; Angie Marcela Ramírez Rubio; Valentina Esguerra; Felipe Montes; Ivana Stankov; Olga L. Sarmiento; J. A. Valdivia
We evidence that the Colombian population could be experiencing an obesity transition where the increase in the GDP could be related to shifts in the burden of obesity from higher to lower SES, especially in women. These patterns support the need for policy planning that considers SES and gender, at the national and subnational levels, as important determinants of overweight and obesity among adults in Colombia.