PHEAL Frequently Asked Questions

+ What is PHEAL?

PHEAL stands for Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy and Leadership. The PHEAL Initiative was developed by a group of committed individuals who sought to create a policy platform to reaffirm the imperative need for public health and design professionals to work together to foster an environment of synergy with the purpose of empowering and elevating the voices of historically overburdened communities with health inequities in the time of COVID-19.

The acronym has two unique characteristics. First, when PHEAL is pronounced, it mimics the word “Feel” which is a key component of each principle. For example, empathy and empowerment are two feelings embedded throughout the document. The other aspect is the obvious word HEAL which represents the journey we are taking to overcome and recover from the COVID-19 and long-simmering health and racial disparities.

+ Why was PHEAL created?

While everyone deserves health, well being, and access to the resources they need to thrive, certain communities have been consistently denied these resources over time. Community planning and other design processes have severed and devalued communities, actively denied them opportunities to build wealth, and created conditions that adversely impacted communities’ health.

The disruptive nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how social and health inequities amplify economic crises, social upheavals, and ecological deterioration. Within this context of heightened awareness, a network of practitioners who plan and design the built environment identified new conversations emerging among their peers. These conversations centered around two themes: a) the new (COVID-era) reality should not normalize the historic root causes of health and social inequities, and b) the time to act intentionally to address health inequities resulting from planning and design policies and practices has never been more pressing than now. In other words, the PHEAL Initiative is intended to help rethink, reconsider, and guide the reformulation of planning policies that traditionally lack public health and community input.

The PHEAL Initiative was developed in response to the severe impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has created and exacerbated in historically overburdened communities with health inequities--particularly in areas concerning the built environment such as housing, transportation, open spaces, density, and more.

Most importantly, PHEAL was initially inspired by Christopher Kochtitzky’s advocacy work at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on healthy communities planning. Before his death, on May 3, 2020, he was advising members of the American Planning Association California Chapter on content for a series of webinars on Planning and Health in the time of COVID-19. Since that day, a small group of colleagues who knew him launched the PHEAL initiative.

+ What is the purpose of PHEAL?

PHEAL is an effort to break down silos of expertise and strengthen the collaboration among those professional and technical experts who shape the built environment along with public health professionals and with the inclusion and empowerment of voices from historically overburdened communities with health inequities in the time of COVID-19.

Who is PHEAL’s main audience? The Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy and Leadership’s vision, mission, values, and guiding principles are intended to serve as a tool for professionals and technical experts working at public, private and non-profit organizations that operate in urban, suburban, rural and other settlement contexts in the following broad fields: planning, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, civil engineering, transportation, community development, real estate, parks and recreation, sustainability and resilience, green building, public health and any other professions concerning the impact of the built environment and health outcomes.

As a built environment or public health professional, how do I use the PHEAL guiding principles?

While PHEAL is an on-going initiative that is growing organically, the principles are intended to serve as the seeds for transforming our respective professions into more inclusive, just, equitable and empathetic practices as we continue to confront COVID-19 and the seemingly insurmountable impacts it has exacerbated in historically overburdened communities with health inequities. You can use these principles to start a conversation with your colleagues in your field or from other related professions about what it is like to plan for health equity, how to advocate, and how to lead. You can use the PHEAL principles to center your approach before you engage in a planning process that will have long-lasting implications.

+ Who is leading PHEAL?

PHEAL is led by a Steering Committee of six volunteers. This Steering Committee has worked alongside and continuously sought the input of a larger group of over 60 interested individuals from a variety of sectors and professional backgrounds.

+ How is PHEAL different from other similar projects?

PHEAL is unique in the following ways:

PHEAL reaffirms the need to empower and elevate the voices of historically overburdened communities with health inequities and a blueprint for moving forward in the COVID-19 era. As the project moved through the timeline, George Floyd and Breona Taylor were killed resulting in international outrage and inevitably adding an urgent need to address systemic racial justice. The initiative started on May 29, 2020, when 60 thought leaders that included planners, architects, designers, urbanists, civil engineers, artists, culture-bearers, arts and culture practitioners, landscape architects, real estate developers, and public health professionals, responded to an invitation to participate in three national meetings to volunteer in the development of the PHEAL Guiding Principles. This dialogue resulted in a renewed commitment among stakeholders to bring about health equity in a meaningful way. Achieving health equity means that the places where we live, work, play, learn and age provide opportunities to be as healthy as possible. It means that our zip code should not be a predictor of our health outcomes and life expectancy. This document is a high-level thinking document seeking to stir the “feelings” and imaginations of professionals as they approach their technical work to advocate for historically overburdened communities with health inequities.

PHEAL is a growing project. The 2.0 phase is projected to start in the fall/winter 2020/2021.

+ How is PHEAL funded?

There is no monetary funding behind PHEAL. It has come into fruition through in-kind donation of time, skills and virtual spaces.

The steering committee works voluntarily to determine the next steps and identify potential funding sources. It is assumed that the steering committee starts conversations with a number of funding agencies in early autumn. The PHEAL Initiative team will provide frequent updates on different steps taken in order to implement the plan.

+Is PHEAL a State of Place project?

No. State of Place is the temporary web host until the PHEAL Initiative secures a permanent website.

+ How can I join and/or endorse PHEAL?

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+ Who should I contact if I have questions about the initiative?

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+ How can I join the mailing list or subscribe to the newsletter to get frequent updates on the PHEAL Initiative?

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