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PARTICIPATION AS A MEANS OF HEALTH PROMOTION:
REDUCING HUMAN VULNERABILITIES TO GLOBAL CHANGE
Chazan,
May “Public Participation As A Means Of Health Promotion:
Reducing Human Vulnerabilities To Global Change” in Martin
J. Bunch, V. Madha Suresh and T. Vasantha Kumaran, eds., Proceedings
of the Third International Conference on Environment and Health,
Chennai, India, 15-17 December, 2003. Chennai: Department
of Geography, University of Madras and Faculty of Environmental
Studies, York University. Pages 89 – 104.
Abstract:
Underlying such imminent
public health concerns as improper nutrition, contaminated water,
(re)emerging infections, abounding chronic diseases, rising drug
use, growing inequalities and perpetual in-access to care are
three on-going global processes: urbanization, environmental change
and globalization. While worldwide efforts are underway to identify
disease patterns associated with each isolated process, cumulatively,
these global trends pose a far deeper challenge to human well
being than any individual epidemiological association. The global
nature of these changes suggests that supranational forces increasingly
drive social, economic, and environmental determinants of health.
Yet social services remain the responsibilities of nations, communities
and individuals. This shift of power away from local communities
contrasts the central premise of health promotion: control over
health determinants is associated with improved health status.
In this paper, I draw on trans-disciplinary research to develop
an integrative framework conceptualizing cumulative effects of
urbanization, global environmental change, and globalization on
community health. I then apply this framework to health promotion
and to research methodologies. Through these applications, I demonstrate
that within the context of global trends, a health promotion approach
to urban planning and social policy– involving public participation
and empowerment– could improve immediate and long-term health
potential.
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