IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/srbeha/v33y2016i5p614-632.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ecosystem Approaches to Health and Well‐Being: Navigating Complexity, Promoting Health in Social–Ecological Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Martin J. Bunch

Abstract

Ecosystem Approaches to Health (also known as ‘ecohealth’) link population or community health and well‐being with the environment and sustainable development. The approach is based on the understanding that health outcomes emerge from interrelationships within social–ecological systems. The ecohealth approach rests on principles of transdisciplinarity, participation, gender and social equity, systems thinking, sustainability, and research‐to‐action. This paper introduces the emerging field of ecohealth as an approach rooted in systems thinking. The approach will be illustrated with three case studies; an application to interrelated crises of poverty, environmental degradation, and zoonotic disease along the Bishnumati River in Kathmandu, Nepal; improvement of community well‐being in a low‐income informal settlement in Chennai, India; and an ongoing project with the Credit Valley Conservation Authority in Southern Ontario, Canada that is oriented to identifying and communicating relationships among ecosystem services and human health so as to demonstrate the importance of watershed management. These projects are typical of the Anthropocene, in which human systems impact the natural systems upon which they depend. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin J. Bunch, 2016. "Ecosystem Approaches to Health and Well‐Being: Navigating Complexity, Promoting Health in Social–Ecological Systems," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 614-632, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:33:y:2016:i:5:p:614-632
    DOI: 10.1002/sres.2429
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2429
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sres.2429?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anonymous, 1948. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 374-377, June.
    2. Anonymous, 1948. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 138-140, February.
    3. Anonymous, 1948. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 540-542, September.
    4. Giles Atkinson & Ian Bateman & Susana Mourato, 2012. "Recent advances in the valuation of ecosystem services and biodiversity," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 28(1), pages 22-47, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kirsten Davies & Michelle Lim & Tianbao Qin & Philip Riordan, 2022. "CHANS-Law: preventing the next pandemic through the integration of social and environmental law," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 577-597, September.
    2. A. T. Shruthi Gopirajan & Praveen Kumar & P. K. Joshi, 2022. "Unraveling the complex and dynamic Himalayan socio-ecological systems: a systematic review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 1532-1559, February.
    3. Steven E. Wallis, 2020. "Integrative Propositional Analysis for developing capacity in an academic research institution by improving strategic planning," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 56-67, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Odelia Koh & Jeannette Lee & Maudrene L S Tan & E-Shyong Tai & Ce Jin Foo & Kok Joon Chong & Su-Yen Goh & Yong Mong Bee & Julian Thumboo & Yin-Bun Cheung & Avjeet Singh & Hwee-Lin Wee, 2014. "Establishing the Thematic Framework for a Diabetes-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life Item Bank for Use in an English-Speaking Asian Population," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Fielden, Sarah J. & Rusch, Melanie L. & Masinda, Mambo Tabu & Sands, Jim & Frankish, Jim & Evoy, Brian, 2007. "Key considerations for logic model development in research partnerships: A Canadian case study," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 115-124, May.
    3. Olga Pakholok, 2013. "The Idea of Healthy Lifestyle and Its Transformation Into Health-Oriented Lifestyle in Contemporary Society," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440135, August.
    4. Viola, Lora Anne, 2008. "WHO says competition is healthy: How civil society can change IGOs [Die WHO sagt: Wettbewerb ist gesund. Wie Zivilgesellschaft IGOs verändern kann]," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2008-307, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    5. Barrington, D.J. & Sridharan, S. & Shields, K.F. & Saunders, S.G. & Souter, R.T. & Bartram, J., 2017. "Sanitation marketing: A systematic review and theoretical critique using the capability approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 128-134.
    6. Letizia Appolloni & Alberto Giretti & Maria Vittoria Corazza & Daniela D’Alessandro, 2020. "Walkable Urban Environments: An Ergonomic Approach of Evaluation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-31, October.
    7. João M. S. Carvalho & Célio A. A. Sousa, 2018. "Is Psychological Value a Missing Building Block in Societal Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-14, December.
    8. Modranka Emilia & Suchecka Jadwiga, 2014. "The Determinants Of Population Health Spatial Disparities," Comparative Economic Research, Sciendo, vol. 17(4), pages 173-185, December.
    9. Völker, Sebastian & Kistemann, Thomas, 2013. "Reprint of: “I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!” Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 141-152.
    10. Heather J. Sutherland & Hilary Llewellyn-Thomas & Norman F. Boyd & James E. Till, 1982. "Attitudes Toward Quality of Survival," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 2(3), pages 299-309, August.
    11. Pilar Sanjuán & María Ávila, 2019. "The Mediating Role of Coping Strategies on the Relationships Between Goal Motives and Affective and Cognitive Components of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1057-1070, April.
    12. Jozef Bavoľár & Oľga Orosová, 2015. "Decision-making styles and their associations with decision-making competencies and mental health," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 10(1), pages 115-122, January.
    13. Souad Smaili, 2018. "I Feel Myself in a Cage of Bird: Berber Female Students’ Self-Identification in the Algerian Society - A Phenomenological Study," European Journal of Social Sciences Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 1, September.
    14. Amaresh Panda & Sanjay Mohapatra, 2021. "Online Healthcare Practices and Associated Stakeholders: Review of Literature for Future Research Agenda," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 46(2), pages 71-85, June.
    15. Marco Fuscaldo, 2012. "Physical limitations, depressive symptoms and cognitive problems: exploring the complex structure of un-health among older people in Italy," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0098, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    16. Tim Lomas & Kate Hefferon & Itai Ivtzan, 2015. "The LIFE Model: A Meta-Theoretical Conceptual Map for Applied Positive Psychology," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1347-1364, October.
    17. Jeanne Landgraf, 2001. "Measuring and monitoring quality of life in children and youth: A brief commentary," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 46(5), pages 281-282, September.
    18. Immergut, Ellen M. & Schneider, Simone M., 2020. "Is it unfair for the affluent to be able to purchase “better” healthcare? Existential standards and institutional norms in healthcare attitudes across 28 countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    19. Rock, Melanie J. & Degeling, Chris, 2015. "Public health ethics and more-than-human solidarity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 61-67.
    20. Fan‐Ko Sun & Chun‐Ying Chiang & Chu‐Yun Lu & Pei‐Jane Yu & Tzu‐Chiao Liao & Chu‐Mei Lan, 2018. "Development and psychometric testing the Health of Body, Mind and Spirit Scale for assessing individuals who have drug abuse histories," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5-6), pages 1038-1048, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:33:y:2016:i:5:p:614-632. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/1092-7026 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.