Ecosystem Health and One Health Approach

Study Notes

Refers to the overall condition, resilience, and sustainability of natural ecosystems, including forests, wetlands, rivers, oceans, and urban landscapes.
Provides essential services such as clean air, clean water, food production, climate regulation, and biodiversity conservation.

Recognizes the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and environmental health.
Emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration and integrated strategies to address complex health challenges.

Examines ecological factors influencing transmission, distribution, and dynamics of infectious diseases in human and animal populations.
Considers environmental conditions, habitat disturbances, climate change, land use patterns, and human behaviors affecting infectious pathogens, vectors, and reservoirs.

Understanding ecological dimensions of health and diseases is essential for developing effective preventive measures and interventions.
Includes environmental monitoring and surveillance, risk assessment, pollution control, habitat conservation, urban planning, sanitation improvements, vaccination campaigns, vector control programs, and community-based health promotion initiatives.

Environmental health and ecological dimensions of health are closely linked to achieving SDGs, particularly Goals 3, 6, 11, 13, and 15.

Environmental health disparities disproportionately affect marginalized and vulnerable populations, including low-income communities, communities of color, and indigenous communities.
Nurses play a crucial role in advocating for health equity and environmental justice by addressing social determinants of health, promoting health equity policies, and addressing environmental inequalities.

Nurses work within communities to promote health, prevent diseases, and address health disparities by understanding environmental health.
They engage with communities, assess environmental concerns, mobilize resources, and collaborate with community partners to address environmental health priorities and promote health equity.

Environmental health issues transcend national boundaries and have global implications for public health.
Nurses working in global health settings must understand environmental determinants of health, address environmental health challenges in diverse cultural contexts, and collaborate with international partners to address environmental health threats.

Study of environmental health is essential for nursing students due to its profound impact on individual and community health outcomes.
Enables nurses to provide holistic care, promote healthy behaviors, prevent diseases, and reduce environmental exposures that contribute to adverse health outcomes.
Empowers nurses to identify environmental health risks, address health concerns related to environmental exposures, and respond to environmental emergencies and disasters.