7. Health Geography in British Columbia
Suggested Activities
Suggested Activities
Activity 1
Choose a current newspaper article that deals with a health issue in your home town or region. Write a three-page reflection on how this issue affects you and the community of which you are a part. Using a geographic perspective, highlight the role of place in this health issue. Share your reflection with a member of your community, and have a discussion about shared and divergent experiences with this issue.
Activity 2
Look at the map of BC in Case Study 1. Calculate how far you live from a trauma centre. Consider what other health care options are close to you for the provision of primary and traumatic care. With current resource levels of your community in mind, consider some possible steps that could be taken to increase your community’s access to care. Discuss with your family, a community group, or a local health care professional about the possibilities you have come up with.
Activity 3
Mental health is essential to people’s overall well-being. Everyone has mental health, and experiences it at different levels. Research and practise three ways of maintaining or improving your own mental health over a period of one week each. Keep a journal during this time reflecting on how you think each method of mental health maintenance is working. Which one works best for you? Consider the spatial implications of this. Questions could include, for example. Do you prefer to do 15 minutes of yoga or stretching in your home, or do you prefer to meet a close friend at a cafe? Is this an embodied or social form of mental health maintenance? Does where you practise each method of maintenance matter to the technique’s effectiveness?