[Geography of science makes a difference: an appeal for public health].
This article introduces a perspective for analyzing the relationship between geographic space and scientific practice and the possible contribution by the geography of science to understanding and developing strategies in favor of public health. Contributions by the field of social studies of science, specifically from the Actor-Network Theory and its concept of translation, and the geography of Milton Santos, form the theoretical framework that allows exploring the spatial dimensions of the production and circulation of scientific knowledge. The article discusses how this approach both enriches and challenges the recent international policies in favor of knowledge translation. The article identifies a possible contribution by the field of Information Science to favor the movement of knowledge, aiming to help minimize the imbalance between what is known in theory and what is applied in practice in health, or the so-called 'know-do gap'.
Guimarães
Maria Cristina Soares
MC
Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. cguima@icict.fiocruz.br
D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D019451:Information Management; D011634:Public Health; D012586:Science