This essay charts a conceptual history of “planetary health,” which holds that population health and the continuity of human civilization depend on the integrity—the health—of the Earth’s life-support systems. It seeks to identify settler colonial and imperial genealogies of this distinctly ecological approach to human population health and flourishing, an assemblage of systems theory and planetary thinking as well as developments in environmental sciences and theories of sustainable development. Planetary health may be seen as (...) a “third wave” of disease ecology, an emergent resource for more complex, naturalistic, and scaled-up modeling in epidemiology—the latest installment in the search for multifactorial, relational, and integrated explanations of patterns of disease. The approach required a new planetary imaginary—emerging from a series of Earth-encompassing crises, such as global heating—which enlarged and systematized ecological configurations of human health and illness. In tracing and critically situating this conceptual history, the authors offer a partial perspective on what may yet become planetary health, drawing attention to some other conceptual routes that may be taken. (shrink)

En el 2011 la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de Mayabeque no contaba con conexión a la red Infomed y a solicitud del departamento de Historia y Filosofía se diseñó una página web estática. Objetivo: Valorar la efectividad de la página web estática Historia de la Salud en Mayabeque a partir del uso que han hecho los usuarios de la red de bibliotecas. Método: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo de corte transversal en la red de bibliotecas de la provincia en el (...) periodo comprendido desde septiembre del 2011 a julio del 2015. El universo estuvo constituido por los usuarios que acudieron a las 26 unidades de la red en la provincia y utilizaron la página, de las que se tomó una muestra intencional de 15 bibliotecas docentes y aleatoria de 281 usuarios. Resultados: Se operó con las variables: uso de la página, categoría de usuario, sexo y edad. Los indicadores para determinar la efectividad de la página fueron: para qué se ha usado la página y evaluación del usuario a partir de una escala de 1 a 5. Discusión: Son los estudiantes del sexo femenino los que más usan la página. Se evidencia el poco uso que hacen los profesores. La página web es efectiva atendiendo al uso realizado por sus usuarios, contribuye a su alfabetización informacional y constituye un medio de apoyo a la enseñanza. The Faculty of Medical Sciences in Mayabeque province didn't have an Infomed network connection back in 2011, therefore, as a request of the History and Philosophy Department, a static web page was designed. Objective: assessing the effectiveness of the Health History in Mayabeque static web page starting from how libraries network users have made use of it. Method: A cross section descriptive study of the libraries network was made in the province from September 2011 to July 2015. The population consisted of users who went to the 26 libraries in the province to use the page. An intentional sample of 15 teaching libraries and a random sample of 281 users was taken. Results: The following variables were taken into account: web page use, user category, sex and age. In order to determine the effectiveness of the page, the subsequent indicators were used: "what was the page used for" and assessment of the user from a 1 to 5 scale. Discussion: Female students use the page the most. The study showed professors make little use of it. The web page is effective according to the use users make of it; it contributes to their information literacy and it is a teaching aid. (shrink)

In this article, the nursing health history is revisited with a hermeneutic lens to uncover means by which this tool can better serve nursing practice. It is argued that further distanciation from the developmental and medical model is necessary to accurately uncover health and history in the nurse–client encounter. Based on the works of prominent hermeneutic philosophers, such as Heidegger, Gadamer, Merleau‐Ponty, Ricoeur, and Taylor, four orientations to health history and nursing are explored: orientation (...) to caring, orientation to narrative, orientation to time, and orientation to the body. The nursing health history is used as a vehicle for illuminating the usefulness of a hermeneutic perspective in everyday nursing practice. This article reveals views of health, history, and health history that are already known to nurses and the nursing milieu but are concealed by more dominant outlooks. The hermeneutical perspective presented in this article can help to reveal the important dimensions of everyday nursing practice and foster a richer attunement with the complex health experiences of individuals. (shrink)

With the increased acceptance of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) within society, new research reflects deeper folk health histories beyond formal medical spaces. The contested relationships between formal and informal medicine have deep provenance and as scientific medicine began to professionalise in the 19th century, lay health knowledges were simultaneously absorbed and disempowered (Porter 1997). In particular, the ‘medical gaze’ and the responses of informal medicine to this gaze were framed around themes of power, regulation, authenticity and narrative (...) reputation. These responses were emplaced and mobile; enacted within multiple settings by multiple agents and structures over time. The work is drawn from secondary material from Ireland, which identify more indigenous narratives of health and act as potential sources for medical humanities. While assumptions have been made as to the place of folk-medicine being essentially rural, evidence will be presented which shows a more complex network of health beliefs and practices. The narratives of informal practice and folk-medicine drawn from evidence from Ireland point to more fluid and hybrid relations with formal medicine and suggest that the complementary nature of the two models reflected wider cultural debates and models of belief (Del Casino Jnr., Health & Place 10:59-73, 2004). (shrink)

Many adoptees face a number of challenges relating to separation from biological parents during the adoption process, including issues concerning identity, intimacy, attachment, and trust, as well as language and other cultural challenges. One common health challenge faced by adoptees involves lack of access to genetic-relative family health history. Lack of GRFHx represents a disadvantage due to a reduced capacity to identify diseases and recommend appropriate screening for conditions for which the adopted person may be at increased (...) risk. In this article, we draw out common features of traditionally understood “health disparities” in order to identify analogous features in the context of adoptees’ lack of GRFHx. (shrink)

History is popular with health policymakers, if the regularity with which they invoke historical anecdotes to support policy change is used as an indicator. Yet the ways in which they ‘use’ history vary enormously, as does its impact. This paper explores, from the perspective of a UK academic historian, the development of ‘applied’ history in health policy. It draws on personal experience of different types and levels of engagement with policymakers, and highlights mechanisms through which (...) this dialogue and partnership can be made more efficient, effective, and intellectually rewarding for all involved. (shrink)

This book brings together contributions by historians of philosophy and medicine to trace the concept of health from ancient Greece and China, through the Islamic world, down to modern thinkers like Descartes and Freud. Major themes include the parallel between mental and physical health and the difficulty of defining health.

The accounts of Wunderlich and Lee, which have been presented in the second part of this brief series, are two representative examples of a well-respected 19th-century genre of international comparison of medical systems. Since these early comparative accounts consist of observations on medical systems by doctor-travellers at a time when intense medical reform debates about the national significance of medicine were taking place, the focus of attention is often intra-professional. In texts such as those by Wunderlich and Lee, creating coherence (...) within a national health care system was primarily understood as constructing national coherence within the medical profession. The comparisons which derived from international travellers of the period were on the whole cast in a literary, narrative form, and were based on personal observation and occasional hands-on experience in foreign practice. The relevance of this type of publication for national policy at this early stage of national system development was defined in terms of the perceived advantages which a more detailed explication of differences between the medical educational structures, medical philosophies and practical professional roles in different nations might bring. (shrink)

There exists in the United States a popular account of the historical roots of environmental philosophy which is worth noting not simply as a matter of historical interest, but also as a source book for some of the key ideas that lend shape to contemporary North American environmental philosophy. However, this folk wisdom about the historical beginnings of North American environmental thinking is incomplete. The wilderness-based history commonly used by environmental philosophers should be supplemented with the neglected story of (...) garbage and sanitation in North American urban areas during the nineteenth century. This supplemented history changes the conceptual territory over which North American environmental philosophy roams. This new territory is better suited to a number of important local and international environmental challenges. (shrink)

Repeating history? Public and community health nursing in AustraliaDespite the long history in Australia of public and community health nursing, it has never been regarded as important as hospital‐based nursing. Notwithstanding the establishment of nursing organisations in the very early years of the 20th century and subsequent efforts to develop the nursing workforce, public and community health nursing has been neglected in terms of policy, research into public health nursing practice and workforce development. Even (...) in the present day, public and community health nurses are marginalised from mainstream nursing interests and there is a lack of conceptualisation about the value of nursing’s contribution to the primary health sector. This sector is experiencing a new wave of reforms driven by a combination of managerialism and systems change for improved responses to address health inequalities. Because there is not a strong institutionalised professional policy and support base for public and community health nurses, they are vulnerable in these reforms to increased domination and appropriation of their practice by stronger professional interests. There is an urgent need for professionally organised support from mainstream nursing to ensure that public and community health nurses are positioned as a unified force in efforts to advance the health of the community. (shrink)

The paper begins by tracing the historical development of American medicine as practice, profession, and industry from the eighteenth century to the present. This historical outline emphasizes shifting conceptions of physicians and physician ethics. It lays the basis for showing, in the second section, how contemporary controversies about the physician’s role in managed care take root in medicine’s past. In the final two sections, I revisit both the historical analysis and its application to contemporary debates. I argue that historical narratives (...) can function as “master narratives” that suppress or leave out historical facts. I bring to the surface what is covered up by the master narrative approach, and show its relevance to contemporary ethical debates. I conclude by proposing that preserving the integrity of medicine will require modifying the master narratives we tell about physicians. The integrity of medicine also offers new perspectives for thinking about managed care and the broader topic of health care reform. (shrink)

Based on event history analysis, this study examined the survival distribution of the duration of online public opinions related to major health emergencies and its influencing factors. We analyzed the data of such emergencies that took place in China during a period of 10 years. The results of the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that the average duration of online public opinions regarding health emergencies is 43 days, and the median is 19 days, (...) which dispels the myth of the “Seven-day Law of Propagation.” Furthermore, the duration of online public opinions can be divided into three stages: the rapid decline stage, the slowdown stage, and the disappearing stage. In addition, the type of event, and the volume of both social media discussion and traditional media coverage all had significant impacts on the duration. Our findings provide practical implications for the carrying out of targeted and stage-based governance of public opinions. (shrink)

Colonization has had extremely negative impacts on the mental health and wellness of Indigenous peoples throughout the world. In this paper we take up colonial processes as they relate to Indigenous lives and mental health in three contexts: Canada, Kenya and Australia. This work engages storytelling and the method of storywork (Archibald et al., 2019) as a way to preserve and pass on history and as a way of resisting colonial oppression. This work is grounded in an (...) intersectional approach to social justice and decolonization (Crenshaw, 1990; Hankivsky & Cormier, 2011), and supported sharing, knowledge co-creation and joint thematic narrative analysis of Indigenous experiences of mental health and justice systems across the three contexts. Our writing team represents a collaborative process between Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors where the members of the team most impacted by colonization use stories to reflect on the impact of colonization and its specific ties to psychiatric, justice and child welfare systems. This paper is presented in three main parts beginning with “Emile’s Story,” followed by “Remembering ‘Is That You Ruthie?’” and concluding with “Navigating Kenya’s Colonial Legacy.” This work engages a process of decolonization by challenging these destructive colonial narratives through storytelling. This paper will both document and demonstrate the importance of creating space for different forms of knowledge creation within academia. (shrink)

Created in 1980, the Health Effects Institute funds research relevant to air quality policy debates and performs other tasks at the boundary between the health effects research community and the air quality policy community. In a 1993 review, the HEI was harshly criticized for a lack of relevance and timeliness in its research products and for poor relationships with its sponsors. Since the review, the HEI has undergone a series of changes that have strengthened its position as a (...) central and respected institution in both the health effects research and air quality policy communities. The apparent success of these recent changes suggests a number of lessons that can be learned about the function of boundary organizations, which bridge the worlds of science and governance. In particular, the HEI’s recent history demonstrates the importance of effective leadership and the importance of maintaining independence without resorting to isolation. (shrink)

In the nineteenth century natural history was widely regarded as a rational and ‘distracting’ pursuit that countered the ill-effects, physical and mental, of urban life. This familiar argument was not only made by members of naturalists’ societies but was also borrowed and adapted by alienists concerned with the moral treatment of the insane. This paper examines the work of five long-serving superintendents in Victorian Scotland and uncovers the connections made between an interest in natural history and the management (...) of mental disease. In addition to recovering a significant influence on the conduct of several alienists the paper explores arguments made outside the asylum walls in favour of natural history as an aid to mental health. Investigating the promotion of natural history as a therapeutic recreation in Scotland and elsewhere reveals more fully the moral and cultural significance attached to natural history pursuits in the nineteenth century. (shrink)

BackgroundThe present study examined the efficacy of the Michigan Model of Infant Mental Health-Home Visiting infant mental health treatment to promote the socioemotional wellbeing of infants and young children. Science illuminates the role of parental “co-regulation” of infant emotion as a pathway to young children’s capacity for self-regulation. The synchrony of parent–infant interaction begins to shape the infant’s own nascent regulatory capacities. Parents with a history of childhood adversity, such as maltreatment or witnessing family violence, and who (...) struggle with symptoms of post-traumatic stress may have greater challenges in co-regulating their infant, thus increasing the risk of their children exhibiting social and emotional problems such as anxiety, aggression, and depression. Early intervention that targets the infant–parent relationship may help buffer the effect of parental risk on child outcomes.MethodsParticipants were 58 mother–infant/toddler dyads enrolled in a longitudinal randomized control trial testing the efficacy of the relationship-based IMH-HV treatment model. Families were eligible based on child age and endorsement of at least two of four socio-demographic factors commonly endorsed in community mental health settings: elevated depression symptoms, three or more Adverse Childhood Experiences parenting stress, and/or child behavior or development concerns. This study included dyads whose children were born at the time of study enrollment and completed 12-month post-baseline follow-up visits. Parents reported on their own history of ACEs and current posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, as well as their toddler’s socioemotional development.ResultsMaternal ACEs predicted more toddler emotional problems through their effect on maternal PTSD symptoms. Parents who received IMH-HV treatment reported more positive toddler socioemotional wellbeing at follow-up relative to the control condition. The most positive socioemotional outcomes were for toddlers of mothers with low to moderate PTSD symptoms who received IMH-HV treatment.ConclusionResults indicate the efficacy of IMH-HV services in promoting more optimal child socioemotional wellbeing even when mothers reported mild to moderate PTSD symptoms. Results also highlight the need to assess parental trauma when infants and young children present with socioemotional difficulties. (shrink)

Many scholars have historicized biopolitics with reference to the emergence of sovereign nations and their colonial extensions over the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. This article begins to conceptualize and trace the history of biopolitics beyond the nation, arguing that the history of world health - the great 20th-century reach of 19th-century health and hygiene - should be understood as a vital politics of population on a newly large field of play. This substantive history of (...) world health and world population is analysed as sites for thinking about global bio-politics; and the article looks seriously at the interwar period as a point at which ‘the world’ (or Hardt and Negri’s ‘Empire’) was already challenging the idea of ‘inter/national’. (shrink)

What do we mean when we talk about rights in relation to health? Where does the language of health rights come from, and what are the implications of using such a discourse? During the last 20 years there have been an increasing number of initiatives and efforts for instance in relation to HIV/AIDS which draw on the language, institutions and procedures of human rights in the field of global health. This book explores the historical, cultural and social (...) context of public health activists' increasing use of rights discourse and examines the problems it can entail in practice. Structured around three interlinked themes, this book begins by looking at how and why some health issues came to be framed as human rights issues. It goes on to look at what health as a human right means for our understandings of citizenship and the political landscape. The final part of the book investigates what happens when health rights are put into practice implemented, realised, cited, ignored and resisted. Health Rights in Global Context provides an in-depth discussion of the historical, social and political context of rights in health and develops much needed critical perspectives on the human rights approach to global health. It will be of interest to scholars of public health and human rights within health care as well as sociology and anthropology"--Provided by publisher. (shrink)

The Hippocratic texts and other contemporary medical sources have often been overlooked in discussions of ancient psychology. They have been considered to be more mechanical and less detailed than poetic and philosophical representations, as well as later medical texts such as those of Galen. This book does justice to these early medical accounts by demonstrating their richness and sophistication, their many connections with other contemporary cultural products and the indebtedness of later medicine to their observations. In addition, it reads these (...) sources not only as archaeological documents but also in the light of methodological discussions that are fundamental to the histories of psychiatry and psychology. As a result of this approach, the book will be important for scholars of these disciplines as well as those of Greek literature and philosophy, strongly advocating the relevance of ancient ideas to modern debates. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The history of Latin America, the history of disease, medicine, and public health, and global history are deeply intertwined, but the intersection of these three fields has not yet attracted sustained attention from historians. Recent developments in the historiography of disease, medicine, and public health in Latin America suggest, however, that a distinctive, global approach to the topic is beginning to emerge. This essay identifies the distinguishing characteristic of this approach as an attentiveness to (...) transfers of contagions, cures, and medical knowledge from Latin America to the rest of the world and then summarizes a few episodes that demonstrate its promise. While national as well as colonial and neocolonial histories of Latin America have made important contributions to our understanding, works taking the global approach have the potential to contribute more directly to the decentering of the global history of disease, medicine, and public health. (shrink)

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book has been defined around three important issues: the first sheds light on how people, in various philosophical, religious, and political contexts, understand the natural environment, and how the relationship between the environment and the body is perceived; the second focuses on the perceptions that a particular natural environment is good or bad for human health and examines the reasons behind such characterizations ; the third examines the promotion, in history, of specific practices to take advantage of (...) the health benefits, or avoid the harm, caused by certain environments and also efforts made to change environments supposed to be harmful to human health. The feeling and/or the observation that the natural environment can have effects on human health have been, and are still commonly shared throughout the world. This led us to raise the issue of the links observed and believed to exist between human beings and the natural environment in a broad chronological and geographical framework. In this investigation, we bring the reader from ancient and late imperial China to the medieval Arab world up to medieval, modern, and contemporary Europe. This book does not examine these relationships through the prism of the knowledge of our modern contemporary European experience, which, still too often, leads to the feeling of totally different worlds. Rather, it questions protagonists who, in different times and in different places, have reflected, on their own terms, on the links between environment and health and tries to obtain a better understanding of why these links took the form they did in these precise contexts. This book targets an academic readership as well as an “informed audience”, for whom present issues of environment and health can be nourished by the reflections of the past. (shrink)

Since the establishment of the modern prison system in the early nineteenth century, prisons and prisoners have been construed as sites of moral, social, and biological contagion. Historic and contemporary studies show that most prisoners experience severe health inequalities, higher rates of addiction and mental health issues, and lower life expectancy than the rest of the population. They also come from deprived social strata. Yet, these aspects of Irish penal history have been largely neglected in academia and (...) popular histories. Our article discusses two public history projects—an art installation, _The Trial_, and a museum exhibition, _Living Inside_—that engaged different publics with the long history of health and welfare in Irish prisons. Developed by the research team on the Wellcome Trust Investigator Award “Prisoners, Medical Care and Entitlement to Health in England and Ireland, 1850-2000,” based at University College Dublin, the projects adopted different methodologies to engage their audiences and explore the experience and management of health and welfare in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Irish prisons. We further examine the different methodological approaches of each project, their varied aims and audiences, and the impacts reported by audiences and participants. The article also considers some of the challenges of doing this kind of public history, both in terms of working with marginalized communities and presenting research about difficult subjects to various audiences. (shrink)