Product Description

This text shows how health may be studied from geographical perspectives and reviews a wide range of studies linking health outcomes with social and physical environments. The structure of the book is designed to guide the reader through the relevant theoretical perspectives, methodologies and research.

• Shows how health may be studied from geographical perspectives and reviews a wide range of studies linking health outcomes with social and physical environments.
  
• Designed to guide the reader through the relevant theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and research.
  
• Supported by current examples of research in a range of geographical settings.
  
• Pedagogical features include text boxes, directed further reading at the end of each chapter, a comprehensive bibliography and a guide to useful Internet resources.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #537447 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 312 pages

Review
"Overall, this is a fascinating text. It describes, in very accessible terms, the basic patterns and processes of health and illness. By the time one has finished the book there are almost as many new questions as answers. Since there is so much literature available (albeit in hard–to–access journals) it is surprising that such a subject hasn′t been tackled more widely before. Of greatest benefit to educators are the website links (brief, but all the key sites are there) and the range of ideas the author presents. This latter idea is crucial. I have often reviewed texts that might otherwise escape attention because of their implied subject matter or even title. So often there is much to be gained from studying these books. This is a prime example. Virtually every page has a desk or field study idea. Since health has an ecology and certainly an environmental aspect it would make an ideal study for students. Although all but the higher grades of senior school students might find the topic too difficult it should be widely available for all teachers who could find a great range of ideas in the text." Dr Paul S Ganderton, TEGNews,British Ecological Society

"Gatrell′s breadth of knowledge of the field of health geography is, I believe, unparalleled. His ability to write for a lay audience is exemplary. His use of copious examples from the widest variety of settings is refreshingly novel and the two dozen pages of references display the geographical and temporal extent of study that have gone into creating this book." Environment and Planning

From the Back Cover
This text shows how health may be studied from geographical perspectives and reviews a wide range of studies linking health outcomes with social and physical environments.

The structure of the book is designed to guide the reader through the relevant theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and research. It opens with definitions of health and an explanation of how they relate to geography, followed by illustrations of the different theoretical approaches employed. There is also a comprehensive overview of quantitative and qualitative methods. Research is then considered in two broad areas: first, the ways in which social processes operate in space to produce inequalities in health and health provision; second, the ways in which human modification of the environment (including air and water quality, and global environmental change) impacts upon health. The text is supported by current examples of research in a range of geographical settings. Pedagogical features include text boxes, directed further reading at the end of each chapter, a comprehensive bibliography and a guide to useful Internet resources.

Anthony Gatrell has produced a website to accompany his book. Please visit this at http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/ihr/gatrell/geohealth.html

About the Author

Anthony C. Gatrell is a geographer by background and training, whose undergraduate and postgraduate career prepared him for early reserach in quantitative geography, spatial analysis, and Geographical Information Systems. His interest in applying this knowledge to problems of disease distribution turned him into a "medical geographer, " though more recent interests in broader health research have seen him transformed into a "health geographer." Presently, he is Professor of the Geography of Health at Lancaster University (where he has worked since 1984), and the Director of the Institute for Health Research

Customer Reviews

An excellent companion for any health geographer
This is well written, easy reading and well worth the wait, considering that health geography text books are so few and far between.

Gatrell makes an up-to-date survey of health geography research and literature, drawing examples from both the developed and developing world. He firmly leaves the old school of 'medical geography' behind and focuses on 'health' rather than 'disease.'

What is so appealing is how he presents the pluralistic approaches to studying health geography. He starts by mentioning five case studies, for example AIDS in Uganda and the organization of space in twentieth century asylums. Throughout the book he refers to the theoretical methods adopted by their researchers (whether positivist, structuralist etc), highlighting the positive and negative points of each.

Gatrell also refers to approaches that see international and national political and economic factors affecting health from colonial times to the present day, unlike traditional medical geography texts which don't seem to make that connection. There is also a useful appendix of web based resources on health geography.

The book is rich in examples in the developing world and somewhat scantier in the developing world. I would like to have seen more emphasis on developing countries, particularly the effects on the health of people living in politically volatile countries like Afghanistan, Palestine and Angolia and countries like Iraq and Cuba due to economic sanctions - in fact none of these countries were mentioned.

'The Geographies of Health' puts health geography into perspective and a good text for any undergraduate or postgraduate student of health geography. I have only had my copy for two months and it is well thumbed.