A World of Health: Connecting People, Place and Planet
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A World of Health is a six-session discussion course book that explores "good health," the connections between human health and the environment, and how we can sustain both. Each session includes readings, video clips, short assignments and accompanying group discussion questions. Click here to review the course sampler.
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Overview:
The course discusses limitations of the current medical model and its approach to health, then addresses the places where our personal health intersects with the environment — from our food and homes, to our communities and society. Throughout the course you will find individual actions that promote good health and in turn, promote a healthier environment.
"The most fundamental message is for people to remember that the environment is not just something that they visit on weekends or during their summer vacation - that the environment is all around us, that it is in us and we are in it, and that it profoundly influences our health."
--Dr. Philip Landrigan, Director of Children's Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center
Topics Covered:
1. Redefining Health: Good health is something most of us strive for, but what do we really mean when we talk about it, and how might we go about creating the conditions that foster it? This session explores how we define health and how that understanding informs our individual and collective well-being.
2. Eating Well: Most people agree that eating well is a foundation of good health. Yet many of our decisions are now focused on avoiding foods that might be harmful to ourselves and our planet. How did we arrive at this point where food, which sustains us, has often become something to fear and worry about?
3. Cleaning House: Americans now spend nearly 90 percent of their time indoors, much of that at home. We look to it as a safe haven, a place to escape from the stresses and trials of the outside world. But recent studies suggest they may not be the safe refuges we think. This session uncovers dangers of household toxins and empowers participants to minimize exposure to health risks.
4. Building Healthy Communities: Many of Americans' health problems may be traced not only to what we eat, but also to where we live. The readings in this session examine how issues of proximity to major roads and industry, urban and suburban sprawl, and access to amenities and green space impact our overall well-being.
5. Curing Consumption: Having considered some of the more direct links to health in previous sessions, the authors in this session look at health within the broader context of a consumer culture. While it is easy to see the connection between health and what we eat, drink and breathe, making connections between the products we buy and our health can require some additional effort.
6. Healthy Planet-Healthy People: The focus of this session widens to consider health within the context of Earth's dynamic and life-sustaining ecosystems. The readings explore the importance of biodiversity, the health of the oceans, climate change and the interplay between the forces of nature and our individual and collective health.
