{"id":462,"date":"2014-06-18T11:18:11","date_gmt":"2014-06-18T18:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/?post_type=chapter&p=462"},"modified":"2014-08-29T13:24:25","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T20:24:25","slug":"types-of-health-geographies","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/chapter\/types-of-health-geographies\/","title":{"raw":"Types of Health Geographies","rendered":"Types of Health Geographies"},"content":{"raw":"Health is understood as the physical, mental and in some cases the\u00a0spiritual state of a person or population. It is more that just the absence of sickness or disease;\u00a0the notion encompasses individual and community perception of \"good\" or \"bad\" heath. The\u00a0r<\/strong>ight to health<\/strong>, which Health Canada and all provincial health services ascribe to, was set out in the United Nations Universal Declaration\u00a0of Human Rights<\/a>,\u00a0[footnote]United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights http:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/documents\/udhr\/index.shtml#a25<\/a>[\/footnote] incorporated in 1948.\r\n
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. \u2013Universal Declaration of Human Rights 25(1). 1948<\/blockquote>\r\nHealth affects entire populations and is a key determinate to our well-being, the overall individual and social state of wellness, and quality of life. Thus, it is monitored by provincial and local health authorities in Canada. To better monitor health conditions and access to health care, public health surveillance<\/strong> systems need to be in place. Public health surveillance <\/strong>is the collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of data on public health issues and its social and environmental determinants. These data are collected in order to better understand spatial e<\/strong>pidemiology, <\/strong>which\u00a0is the study of patterns, causes and effects of health and diseases among certain populations.\r\n\r\nA geographic information systems (GIS)<\/strong>\u00a0can be used to monitor and track health information for the study of epidemiology and for health surveillance purposes. GIS is not just a technological \"fix\" for health and mobility problems but rather a device that has the capability of informing decision-makers and the public about where needs exist. For example, GIS has been used to offer decision support for health catchment areas for planning health resources in dispersed populations in rural BC (Schuurman, Randall, & Berube, 2011).\r\n\r\nTelehealth<\/strong> applications allow physicians to provide care at a distance and provide\u00a0a promising and unique means to provide health care and health education to dispersed populations. Northern portions of British Columbia may benefit from communication with a physician or nurse through the use of communication technologies. These technologies make it possible to communicate despite great distances that separate doctors and their patients. (Read more about the uptake of telehealth in British Columbia in this Globe and Mail<\/em> article<\/a>[footnote]Connecting doctors with patients with Medeo article from the Globe and Mail<\/em> http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/report-on-business\/small-business\/starting-out\/virtual-checkup-vancouver-startup-connects-doctors-patients-through-video-chat\/article12445957<\/a>\/[\/footnote] about Medeo, a telehealth provider in BC).\r\n\r\nMobile health (mHealth)\u00a0<\/strong>is an emerging field; it\u00a0<\/strong>is\u00a0the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices. mHealth can be used for data collection for monitoring patients, informing diagnosis, organizing electronic medical records and for data dissemination by presenting health care resources, recommendation and education from doctors to patients using the mobile devices.\r\n\r\nOther health geographies in BC include investigating geographies of care in rural and northern communities, health inequities, Aboriginal health, child and family care, palliative and other types of care giving, medical tourism, and\u00a0geographies of mental health and addictions, and the intersection of geographies of health and aging. These health geographies are often concerned with access, equity, experience and outcomes. For example, First Nations people in Canada have\u00a0higher rates of morbidity, trauma, illness, suicide, addiction, mental health issues and\u00a0unwanted teenage pregnancy. Understanding how to address those issues from a comprehensive health promotion perspective\u00a0is being explored on various fronts. Political health geographies of HIV\/AIDS in BC have also been an active area of inquiry. \u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nMore recently in health geography, the comprehensive understandings of health and place that are promoted has lead to a focus on\u00a0intersectionality<\/strong>, which is an approach that prioritizes\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0interrelationships of gender, class, race and ethnicity and other social divisions and seeks to understand how power relations structure these relationships. As it is applied to health geography, intersectionality\u00a0 also considers\u00a0these interrelationships with spatiality, or the way that place also factors into this complex system that contributes to a state of health.","rendered":"

Health is understood as the physical, mental and in some cases the\u00a0spiritual state of a person or population. It is more that just the absence of sickness or disease;\u00a0the notion encompasses individual and community perception of “good” or “bad” heath. The\u00a0r<\/strong>ight to health<\/strong>, which Health Canada and all provincial health services ascribe to, was set out in the United Nations Universal Declaration\u00a0of Human Rights<\/a>,\u00a0[1]<\/sup><\/a> incorporated in 1948.<\/p>\n

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. \u2013Universal Declaration of Human Rights 25(1). 1948<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Health affects entire populations and is a key determinate to our well-being, the overall individual and social state of wellness, and quality of life. Thus, it is monitored by provincial and local health authorities in Canada. To better monitor health conditions and access to health care, public health surveillance<\/strong> systems need to be in place. Public health surveillance <\/strong>is the collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of data on public health issues and its social and environmental determinants. These data are collected in order to better understand spatial e<\/strong>pidemiology, <\/strong>which\u00a0is the study of patterns, causes and effects of health and diseases among certain populations.<\/p>\n

A geographic information systems (GIS)<\/strong>\u00a0can be used to monitor and track health information for the study of epidemiology and for health surveillance purposes. GIS is not just a technological “fix” for health and mobility problems but rather a device that has the capability of informing decision-makers and the public about where needs exist. For example, GIS has been used to offer decision support for health catchment areas for planning health resources in dispersed populations in rural BC (Schuurman, Randall, & Berube, 2011).<\/p>\n

Telehealth<\/strong> applications allow physicians to provide care at a distance and provide\u00a0a promising and unique means to provide health care and health education to dispersed populations. Northern portions of British Columbia may benefit from communication with a physician or nurse through the use of communication technologies. These technologies make it possible to communicate despite great distances that separate doctors and their patients. (Read more about the uptake of telehealth in British Columbia in this Globe and Mail<\/em> article<\/a>[2]<\/sup><\/a> about Medeo, a telehealth provider in BC).<\/p>\n

Mobile health (mHealth)\u00a0<\/strong>is an emerging field; it\u00a0<\/strong>is\u00a0the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices. mHealth can be used for data collection for monitoring patients, informing diagnosis, organizing electronic medical records and for data dissemination by presenting health care resources, recommendation and education from doctors to patients using the mobile devices.<\/p>\n

Other health geographies in BC include investigating geographies of care in rural and northern communities, health inequities, Aboriginal health, child and family care, palliative and other types of care giving, medical tourism, and\u00a0geographies of mental health and addictions, and the intersection of geographies of health and aging. These health geographies are often concerned with access, equity, experience and outcomes. For example, First Nations people in Canada have\u00a0higher rates of morbidity, trauma, illness, suicide, addiction, mental health issues and\u00a0unwanted teenage pregnancy. Understanding how to address those issues from a comprehensive health promotion perspective\u00a0is being explored on various fronts. Political health geographies of HIV\/AIDS in BC have also been an active area of inquiry. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More recently in health geography, the comprehensive understandings of health and place that are promoted has lead to a focus on\u00a0intersectionality<\/strong>, which is an approach that prioritizes\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0interrelationships of gender, class, race and ethnicity and other social divisions and seeks to understand how power relations structure these relationships. As it is applied to health geography, intersectionality\u00a0 also considers\u00a0these interrelationships with spatiality, or the way that place also factors into this complex system that contributes to a state of health.<\/p>\n

  1. United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights http:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/documents\/udhr\/index.shtml#a25<\/a> ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. Connecting doctors with patients with Medeo article from the Globe and Mail<\/em> http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/report-on-business\/small-business\/starting-out\/virtual-checkup-vancouver-startup-connects-doctors-patients-through-video-chat\/article12445957<\/a>\/ ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":37,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-462","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":272,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1254,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/462\/revisions\/1254"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/272"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/462\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}