Class 2- Disease Ecology

Question 1

What is the Human Ecology of Disease

Answer 1

• Interactions among humans (behavior) and their environment to produce or prevent disease (health)

Question 2

Measuring health

Answer 2

• We use proxies
  
  • Morbidity
    
    • Related to disease or health
  • Mortality
    
    • Related to death

Question 3

Steps to understand the Human Ecology of Disease

Answer 3

• Step 1: “Where”
  
  • Can start by mapping health/disease or potential environmental factors
• Step 2: “Why”
  
  • Use “Triangle of Human Ecology” framework
    
    • State of Health
      
      • Population
      • Habitat
      • Behavior

Question 4

Triangle of Human Ecology: Population

Answer 4

• Humans as biological organisms
• The nature of the population
  
  • Characteristics, status, conditions of individuals as organisms
    
    • Aggregated to a population level
• Components:
  
  • Age
  • Race/Ethnicity
  • Gender
  • Genetics

Question 5

Triangle of Human Ecology: Habitat

Answer 5

• The natural, built, and social environments we live in
  
  • e.g.
    
    • Housing and/or work conditions
    • Settlement patterns
    • Weather
    • Pollution
    • Health care services
    • Schools

Question 6

Built Environment

Answer 6

• Comprised of factors such as:
  
  • Housing and living conditions
  • Settlement patterns
    
    • Where and how people are arranged or distributed within and throughout a landscape
  • Food environment
  • Health care services

Question 7

Natural environment

Answer 7

• Biotic
  
  • Flora and fauna
• Physical
  
  • Air, soil, water, elevation

Question 8

Social Environment

Answer 8

• Groups, relations, and societies in which people live
• Neighborhood effect
• Example
  
  • Stress, discrimination, isolation, family support for education, health promotion

Question 9

Triangle of Human Ecology: Behavior

Answer 9

• A little more difficult to separate into the three groups in the Triangle
  
  • Beliefs, Social Organization, Technology

Question 10

Behavior

Answer 10

• Behavior exposes and/or insulates people from stimuli

Question 11

Migration and movement

Answer 11

• Migration
  
  • Movement of disease from one place to another
  • Movement of cultural practices
• Mobility
  
  • Patterns of movement that may affect disease diffusion or spread, e.g., Ebola scare

Question 12

Etiology

Answer 12

The cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition.