ENVH7711 Environmental Health Concepts

2020

4.5

1 x 6-hour on-line exercises weekly

Internal Students
1 x 6-hours on-line excercises weekly
1 x 1-hour tutorial weekly

1 of ENVH4711, ENVH8711 has been successfully completed

The topic introduces the concept of ‘environmental health’ through the introduction of physical environments as determinants of human health. These ‘realms’ of environmental health include water, air, land, food and buildings. We examine our living environments or ‘settings’ (home, work and recreational) within these five realms and look at how various stressors: physical; biological; chemical and social; impact on these realms to cause adverse health effects to humans. Finally we focus on how environmental health practitioners contribute to assessing, correcting and preventing the impact of these stressors on the various realms and the humans who live within them. The topic covers issues of local and global significance and also examines unique environmental health justice issues relating to indigenous populations.

At the completion of the topic, students are expected to be able to:

1. Justify the importance of physical environments as determinants of health
2. Identify the historical and current paradigms pertaining to environmental health
3. Explore the complexity of environmental health issues, including the scientific basis and the political, cultural, social and economic influences on environmental health decision-making processes
4. Form an appreciation of the importance of environmental health justice for indigenous and other disadvantaged communities
5. Explain the links between good health and the state of the environment