Introduction to Environmental Health - Health - Lecture Slides, Slides of Public Health

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Introduction to

Environmental Health

Learning Objectives

•^

Define fundamental terms

-^

Explain the basic relationshipbetween the environment and health

-^

Explain impact of environmentalfactors on health

-^

Explain role of environmental healthprofessionals

Outline

•^

Definition of Environmental Health

-^

Interdependent Relations

-^

Environmental Effects on Health

-^

Systematic Approach

-^

Interdisciplinary Roles

Definition: ‘Health

• ‘…

is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely theabsence of disease or infirmity’(WHO,1948)

-^

‘Health is only possible where resources areavailable to meet human needs and wherethe living and working environment isprotected from life-threatening and healththreatening pollutants, pathogens andphysical hazards’(Who, 1992a)

Definition: ‘Environmental Health’ •^

‘…comprises those aspects of humanhealth, including quality of life, that aredetermined by physical, biological, socialand psychosocial factors in theenvironment. It also, refers to the theoryand practice of assessing, correcting,controlling, and preventing those factorsin the environment that can potentiallyaffect adversely the health of present andfuture generations’ (WHO, 1993a)

Definition:

‘Health Effect…’

•^

‘…is the specific damage to healththat an environmental hazard cancause an individual person. Oftenthe same hazard can cause a rangeof different effects of differentseverity.’ (Yassi et al., 2001)

Interdependent Environments^ •^

A relational definition ofenvironment is a function of scale,boundaries, spatial proximity andrecipient populations

-^

When considering a global scale,focus is on the effect of anunbounded environment, e.g. air, onall populations anywhere

Interdependent Environments •^ When considering local scale, focusis on effect of both a bounded and anunbounded environment, e.g. waterand air, on a subpopulation closest tothe exposure event •^ The local scale is a subpart of theglobal scale

Health and EnvironmentPerspective of Relations

PersonalHealth Family Health Occupational Health

Public Health

Environmental health

Environmental Effects on Health

•^

The indicators of beneficialenvironmental effects are longevityand sustained functionality.

-^

Two degrees of adverse environmentaleffects are: injury (

syn. include:

debilitating, dysfunctional, lame

) with

decreased longevity or death (

syn.

include: life-threatening, terminal,deleterious

Environmental Effects on Health

•^

An individual’s response to anenvironmental effect is a function oftheir physical environment, theirhealth state, and their culture.

Systematic Approach

•^

In the absence of a universaldefinition of ‘good health’, at least a universal concept

of

adverse health

effect,

e.g. sick, illness, dysfunctional,

‘not normal’ or ‘not well’, mustexist such that understanding theconcept results in a response

Systematic Approach

•^

Determine the source and nature ofhazards

-^

Determine the exposure pathway

-^

Measure the effects

-^

Apply controls however possible

(Moeller, 1992)

Interdisciplinary Roles

•^

To implement the systematicapproach, role players are needed

-^

Three major classes of role playersare: the

environmental health

problem investigators

, the

environmental problem responders and the

health problem responders