Definition Of Health Geography

Health geography is the application of geographical information perspectives and methods to the study of health disease and health care overview.

Definition of health geography. Medical geography sometimes called health geography is an area of medical research that incorporates geographic techniques into the study of health around the world and the spread of diseases. With the growth of world travel medical geography has assumed ever increasing importance in the contexts of both public health and research. These include spatial epidemiological questions of how and why human health varies from one area to another at the ecological aggregated population level. Information and translations of health geography in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web.

Medical geography studies the effects of locale and climate upon health. What does health geography mean. Health geography can provide a spatial understanding of a population s health the distribution of disease in an area and the environment s effect on health and disease. The study of health geography has been influenced by repositioning medical geography within the field of social geography due to a shift towards a social model in health care rather than a.

The latter group argues that medical geography needs to be recast as health geography divided between the geography of health and the geography of health care. An important new area of health research that is a hybrid between geography and medicine dealing with the geographic aspects of health and healthcare. The ib geography specification refers specifically to the need to evaluate life expectancy infant mortality rate imr and child mortality health adjusted life expectancy hale calorie intake access to safe water and access to health services. In addition medical geography studies the impact of climate and location on an individual s health as well as the distribution of health services.

Back to table of contents. Meaning of health geography. 31 health and social care integration partnerships integration authorities ia cover scotland along with 14 health boards hb. Medical geography the relationship between geographic factors and disease.

It aims to improve the understanding of the various factors which affect the health of populations and hence individuals. An introduction in health geography access to health care services has consistently been identified as a key theme of research mayer 1982. It deals also with accessibility to health care and spatial distribution of health care providers.