Health, human development and the community ecosystem: three ecological models

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Abstract
Health, as both an expres and a component of human development, has to be seen in an ecological way as ‘the pattern that connects’ and the radical and subversive nature of an ecological approach needs to be recognized. Three ecological models are presented, that of health, the links between health, environment and economy (or between ‘health for all’ and sustainable development); and the social, environmental and eco nomic dimensions of a healthy and sustainable com munity. The ‘Mandala of Health’, as a model of the human ecosystem, presents the determinants of health as a set of nested influences, ranging from the biological and personal to the ecological and planetary, including the social and political The health-environment-economy model shows the crucial links between health (or social wellbeing) and environmental and economic wellbeing with a particular focus on two key public health principles—equity and sustainabilizy. The final model applies these concepts at the community level, introducing such issues viability, conviviality and liveabilily. These models could be used to better understand health, to define key criteria for hea Ithier public policies and to define some key action areas for healthy city projects. It is in their application that their value—and their ‘subversiveness’—will be tested.

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