Transdisciplinary and social-ecological health frameworks-Novel approaches to emerging parasitic and vector-borne diseases

Abstract

Ecosystem Health, Conservation Medicine, EcoHealth, One Health, Planetary Health and GeoHealth are inter-related disciplines that underpin a shared understanding of the functional prerequisites of health, sustainable vitality and wellbeing. All of these are based on recognition that health interconnects species across the planet, and they offer ways to more effectively tackle complex real-world challenges. Herein we present a bibliometric analysis to document usage of a subset of such terms by journals over time. We also provide examples of parasitic and vector-borne diseases, including malaria, toxoplasmosis, baylisascariasis, and Lyme disease. These and many other diseases have persisted, emerged or re-emerged, and caused great harm to human and animal populations in developed and low income, biodiverse nations around the world, largely because of societal drivers that undermined natural processes of disease prevention and control, which had developed through co-evolution over millennia. Shortcomings in addressing drivers has arisen from a lack or coordinated efforts among researchers, health stewards, societies at large, and governments. Fortunately, specialists collaborating under transdisciplinary and socio-ecological health umbrellas are increasingly integrating established and new techniques for disease modeling, prediction, diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention. Such approaches often emphasize conservation of biodiversity for health protection, and they provide novel opportunities to increase the efficiency and probability of success.

Keywords: Baylisascariasis; Conservation Medicine; EcoHealth; Ecosystem Health; GeoHealth; Integrative research; Lyme disease; Malaria; One Health; Planetary Health; Social-ecological systems; Toxoplasmosis; Transdisciplinarity.

Fig. 1

1. Scopus bibliometric analysis of number of publications over time and 2. Percentage of publications by subject area using the terms Ecosystem Health, Conservation Medicine, EcoHealth, One Health, Planetary Health and GeoHealth from 1945 to 2018. Since the book released on Ecosystem Health in 1991, the concept has widely used to date. Conservation Medicine has been used across subject areas since its emergence in the mid 1990s. EcoHealth is a concept commonly used in the environmental fields. One Health has grown exponentially since the establishment of the One Health Commission in 2007. It is clear that Planetary Health and GeoHealth recently emerged primarily within the human health domain during the past decade.

Fig. 2

1. Diagram depicting a traditional focus on health and the disease-causing agent. 2. A slightly more patient-centered model, including his/her illness and the disease-causing agent. 3. An Ecosystem Health model where patients with illnesses and related disease-causing agent are encountered in the context and influence of family, community, society, ecosystem, and the world as a system.

Fig. 3

1. Conceptually, conservation medicine, the practice of ecological health, is at the nexus of the fields of ecosystem health, animal health and human health (modified from Aguirre et al., 2002). 2. Ecohealth (the ecosystem approach to heath) gives equal importance to environmental management, economic factors, and community aspirations (modified from Lebel, 2003). 3. More recently, the domains and forces of One Health were interconnected with bidirectional arrows (modified from King, 2014).