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. 2014 Jan 10;11(1):1005-19.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph110101005.

The portrayal of natural environment in the evolution of the ecological public health paradigm

Christopher Coutts  1 , Annet Forkink  2 , Jocelyn Weiner  3
Affiliations

The portrayal of natural environment in the evolution of the ecological public health paradigm

Christopher Coutts et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

This paper explores the conceptualization of the natural environment in an evolving ecological public health paradigm. The natural environment has long been recognized as essential to supporting life, health, and wellbeing. Our understanding of the relationship between the natural environment and health has steadily evolved from one of an undynamic environment to a more sophisticated understanding of ecological interactions. This evolution is reflected in a number of ecological public health models which demonstrate the many external and overlapping determinants of human health. Six models are presented here to demonstrate this evolution, each model reflecting an increasingly ecological appreciation for the fundamental role of the natural environment in supporting human health. We conclude that after decades of public health's acceptance of the ecological paradigm, we are only now beginning to assemble knowledge of sophisticated ecological interdependencies and apply this knowledge to the conceptualization and study of the relationship between the natural environment and the determinants of human health.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The determinants of health (reprinted from [18] with permission from Elsevier®).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The Mandala of Health (reprinted from [21] with permission from Oxford University Press®).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The Butterfly Model of Health (reprinted from [15] with permission from John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii).
Figure 4
Figure 4
The Health Map [24,25].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Public Health Ecology (reprinted from [26] with permission from Kristen Ruby).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Transformation via Balanced Exchanges Model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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