Environmental Health Flashcards
Environmental Health
- The physical, chemical, biological, and social factors external to a person that can impact health
- The assessment and control of environmental factors that can affect health
- Targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments
- What are we talking about when we talk about “Environmental Health?”
- Basically, we consider everything outside of a person that impacts health – and the assessment of control of those factors.
- I think of this as two large categories. . . Those things that directly impact human health and those things that impact the earth/natural environment indirectly impacting human health.
- 23% of deaths are attributable to the environment
- 22% of global burden of disease is attributable to the environment
- Low- and middle-income countries bear the greatest burden of environmental disease
- Nearly a quarter of all death is attributable to some environmental factors.
- As is typical, the burden of disease is higher among children. Why are these percentages higher among children? Children are more susceptible to the environment: they eat more, drink more, breathe more in relationship to their body size. They also have behaviors that make them more susceptible (eating stuff off the ground), and they have exposures when they are not mature (brain development and lead)
- Environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change, and ultraviolet radiation, contribute to more than 100 diseases and injuries.
Human Environment: Physical Environment
Environmental Quality
Built Environment and Infrastructure
Geographic access to opportunities throughout the region
Human Environment: Physical Environment- Environmental Quality
Air, water, land.
Protective factors: Policies and practices that maintain a clean, healthy environment.
Risk factors: Presence of and exposure to toxics and pollution in residential areas and in work environments.
Human Environment: Physical Environment- Built Environment and Infrastructure
Housing, parks, recreation facilities, utilities.
Protective factors: Access to affordable, high-quality housing, local parks, practical opportunities to walk, run, and bicycle. Urban design that supports physical activity.
Risk factors: Exposure to lead paint, problems with inadequate sanitation and pest infestation, dangerous types of work, and urban design that inhibits physical activity.
Human Environment: Physical Environment- Geographic access to opportunities throughout the region
Access to roads or transit connecting to resources within the neighborhood as well as the broader region.
Protective factors: Convenient location and mobility allow access to services, employment, and cultural and recreational resources.
Risk factors: Isolation from job centers, particularly areas without convenient public transit access. Distance from recreational facilities or safe parks for health-promoting activities such as exercise.
Human Environment: Social Environment
Cultural Characteristics
Social support and networks
community leadership and organization
Human Environment: Social Environment- Cultural Characteristics
Values, attitudes, and standards of behavior (including diet) connected to race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or nationality, as well as from other types of social and cultural groupings.
Protective factors: Cohesion, a sense of community, and access to key cultural institutions. Sense of belonging
Risk factors: Racism, language barriers, and acceptance of unhealthy behaviors. Absence of expectations that promote healthy behavior and community safety.
Human Environment: Social Environment- Social support and networks
Friends, family, colleagues, and neighborhood acquaintances. These networks exist within the community and beyond it, such as churches and clubs.
Protective factors: Social capital that can provide access to social supports and economic opportunities, as well as to certain health services and resources. Adult role models and peer networks are influential to young people.
Risk factors: Lack of social supports and role models. Residents do not have access to networks outside the neighborhood that can link them to employment and other key opportunities (sometimes referred to as an absence of “bridging” social capital).
Human Environment: Social Environment- community leadership and organization
Level of capacity for mobilization, civic engagement, and political power.
Protective factors: Community leaders and organizations provide needed supports and services. Political power allows needed resources to be leveraged into the neighborhood.
Risk factors: Lack of leadership, organization, and political power impedes the flow of resources needed for neighborhood problem-solving and hampers community leadership development.
Human Environment: Service Environment
Health services
Public Safety
Community and public support services
Human Environment: Service Environment- Health services
Accessibility, affordability, and quality of care for individuals and families.
Protective factors: Necessary, accessible care delivered in a culturally sensitive manner in satisfactory health facilities with well-trained and culturally appropriate practitioners.
Risk factors: Lack of access to necessary healthcare services, while what is available is culturally inappropriate and of poor quality.
Human Environment: Service Environment- Public Safety
Police and fire protection, emergency services.
Protective factors: Desired and necessary amount of police and fire protection. Little crime, lots of street/sidewalk activity and interaction.
Risk factors: Prevalence of violence breeds fear, isolation, and a reluctance to seek even needed services, as residents avoid leaving their homes and spending time outside.
Human Environment: Service Environment- Community and public support services
Neighborhood-level public services, including schools, parks and recreation, transit, sanitation, and childcare centers. Community institutions include churches, social clubs, and block groups.
Protective factors: Quality support services act as important neighborhood institutions providing needed services as well as venues for neighborhood meetings and leadership development.
Risk factors: Needed services are not available while those located in the neighborhood are undependable and of poor quality.
Human Environment: Economic Environment
Employment, income, wealth, and assets
Neighborhood economic conditions
Human Environment: Economic Environment- Employment, income, wealth, and assets
The quality and quantity of employment opportunities available to residents and the amount of collective wealth and assets in the community can influence residents’ health.
Protective factors: Living-wage jobs with health benefits; safe workplaces. Savings, retirement, and homeownership provide economic stability.
Risk factors: Large numbers of community residents with low-wage jobs with no benefits and unsafe working conditions. Racial and economic segregation and concentrated poverty lead to higher stress and premature mortality.
