Visible Hands of International Solidarity? Linking Health, Community Re-development, and Economic Re-vitalization in De-industrialized Regions around the World

The processes involved in the product cycle, automation and globalization--the invisible hand of the market--have decimated many of the worlds older industrial regions. After a significant diaspora, the remaining people in these once proud and productive cities are simultaneously knee deep in legacies and deeply uncertain about their paths forward. Given this context, this talk will initially examine the interplay between health/mental health, human capacity, the social determinants of health, health care and community and economic revitalization in these regions, taking what has happened to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania over the past 50 years as an example. It will finish by considering what might be learned from approaches developed in other places facing similar problems around the world and how best this shared learning might be accomplished and carried into the future.

Kenneth S. Thompson, MD is a community psychiatrist with 20 years of experience in organizing and providing psychiatric services to populations in distressed communities. His current efforts include addressing health inequities by organizing and integrating community health and mental health services into regional agendas for community and economic revitalization.