The study of health, disease and healthcare approached from a geographical perspective constitutes the field of health and medical geography. The field is focused on the study of the geographies of disease and illness, through descriptive and analytic research. This involves quantifying disease frequencies and distributions as well as the study of the characteristics that make an individual or a population susceptible to disease. An important aspect of health geography is the geography of healthcare, particularly healthcare facility location, utilization and accessibility. All pertinent health risks such as natural disasters, stress, depression, interpersonal violence, etc. are assessed in medical geography. This book aims to shed light on some of the unexplored aspects of health and medical geography and the recent researches in this field. Different approaches, evaluations, methodologies and advanced studies on medical and health geography have been included herein. This book is an essential guide for both academicians and those who wish to pursue this discipline further.

In the second edition of An Introduction to the Geography of Health, Helen Hazen and Peter Anthamatten explore the ways in which geographic ideas and approaches can inform our understanding of health. The book’s focus on a broad range of physical and social factors that drive health in places and spaces offers students and scholars an important holistic perspective on the study of health in the modern era. In this edition, the authors have restructured the book to emphasize the theoretical significance of ecological and social approaches to health. Spatial methods are now reinforced throughout the book, and other qualitative and quantitative methods are discussed in greater depth. Data and examples are used extensively to illustrate key points and have been updated throughout, including several new extended case studies such as water contamination in Flint, Michigan; microplastics pollution; West Africa’s Ebola crisis; and the Zika epidemic. The book contains more than one hundred figures, including new and updated maps, data graphics, and photos. The book is designed to be used as the core text for a health geography course for undergraduate and lower-level graduate students and is relevant to students of biology, medicine, entomology, social science, urban planning, and public health.

Why are rainfall, carcinogens, and primary care physicians distributed unevenly over space? The fourth edition of the leading text in the field has been updated and reorganized to cover the latest developments in disease ecology and health promotion across the globe. The book accessibly introduces the core questions and perspectives of health and medical geography and presents cutting-edge techniques of mapping and spatial analysis. It explores the intersecting genetic, ecological, behavioral, cultural, and socioeconomic processes that underlie patterns of health and disease in particular places, including how new diseases and epidemics emerge. Geographic dimensions of health care access and service provision are addressed. More than 100 figures include 16 color plates; most are available as PowerPoint slides at the companion website. New to This Edition: *Chapters on the political ecology of health; emerging infectious diseases and landscape genetics; food, diet, and nutrition; and urban health. *Coverage of Middle East respiratory syndrome, Ebola, and Zika; impacts on health of global climate change; contaminated water crises in economically developed countries, including in Flint, Michigan; China's rapid industrial growth; and other timely topics. *Updated throughout with current data and concepts plus advances in GIS. Pedagogical Features: *End-of-chapter review questions and suggestions for further reading. *Section Introductions that describe each chapter. *"Quick Reviews"--within-chapter recaps of key concepts. *Bold-faced key terms and an end-of-book glossary.

Setting out the debates and reviewing the evidence that links health outcomes with social and physical environments, this new edition of the well-established text offers an accessible overview of the theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and research in the field of health geography Includes international examples, drawn from a broad range of countries, and extensive illustrations Unique in its approach to health geography, as opposed to medical geography New chapters focus on contemporary concerns including neighborhoods and health, ageing, and emerging infectious disease Offers five new case studies and an fresh emphasis on qualitative research approaches Written by two of the leading health geographers in the world, each with extensive experience in research and policy

The therapeutic landscape concept, first introduced early in the 1990s, has been widely employed in health/medical geography and gaining momentum in various health-related disciplines. This is the first book published in several years, and provides an introduction to the concept and its applications. Written by health/medical geographers and anthropologists, it addresses contemporary applications in the natural and built environments; for special populations, such as substance abusers; and in health care sites, a new and evolving area - and provides an array of critiques or contestations of the concept and its various applications. The conclusion of the work provides a critical evaluation of the development and progress of the concept to date, signposting the likely avenues for future investigation.

This major textbook is a comprehensive introduction to the rapidly expanding field of medical geography. It illustrates the ideas, methods and debates that inform contemporary approaches to the subject.

A COMPANION TO HEALTH AND MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY A Companion to Health and Medical Geography provides an essential starting point for anyone interested in studying the role of geography and of geographers, both past and present, in promoting an understanding of issues relating to health and illness. Whilst thoroughly mapping out the territory covered by the sub-discipline and examining changes in focus and terminology, this book offers a discussion of the major themes from differing methodological and theoretical perspectives. Questions of class, ethnicity, gender, age, and sexuality are covered throughout the text and case studies within chapters draw upon scholarship from around the globe in order to illuminate key points. Organized to promote dialogue and encourage health and medical geographers to rethink sub-disciplinary boundaries, this Companion provides a unique account of the history of the field and its future potential and possibilities.

The first part takes the reader from initial concept of disease and health, including generalized discussions of causative agents, through measurement and classification systems to variable methods that can be employed in mapping. The second part is concerned with studies in disease ecology, aspects of the analysis of disease diffusion over time and space, and variable methods of statistical association. Given the background of the first 2 parts, the third comprises an exposition of the use of medical geographical concepts in health care facilities planning applications, which include a dis- cussion of relevant systems in the united states and presentation of automated geographic base files.