PUBLIC HEALTH – Air Pollution concern in London, United Kingdom

Order Description
Climate Change, Sustainability and Public Health
Module Guide

1. Rationale for the development of this module.
The links between human activity and the environment are many and complex. People depend upon ‘viable productive and stable’ environments for their survival and health, and human activity impacts on environments in ways which can be positive or deleterious for the flourishing of human and non-human residents. This module explores the complexity of this relationship, including key concepts such as ecosystem services, sustainability, social progress, the ‘risk society’, environmental justice and ecological public health. Many current and future public health issues have synergies with climate change (e.g. food security, the health impacts of flooding and heat stress, changes in disease vectors) and promoting sustainability (e.g. ‘obesogenic environments’ are characterised by low levels of physical activity such as walking and cycling which are also issues for promoting sustainable transport). This module explores the many links between these two critical areas of practice for the 21st Century.
2. Module Philosophy.
Public Health requires an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of health problems and the professional practice needed to address them, and meeting the new complex health problems of the 21st Century requires integration of thinking and practice across many disciplines. It is important to acknowledge that practitioners will bring to the programme an existing wealth of knowledge and skills. The module is structured so that applicants from diverse backgrounds have the opportunity to gain a sound foundational knowledge base in the fundamental aspects of public health, and to explore areas of special interest and specific professional practice.

Short Module Descriptor The links between human activity and the environment are many and complex. People depend upon ‘viable productive and stable’ environments for their survival and health, and human activity impacts on environments in ways which can be positive or deleterious for the flourishing of human and non-human residents. This module explores the complexity of this relationship, including key concepts such as ecosystem services, sustainability, social progress, the ‘risk society’, environmental justice and ecological public health. Many current and future public health issues have synergies with climate change (e.g. food security, the health impacts of flooding and heat stress, changes in disease vectors) and promoting sustainability (e.g. ‘obesogenic environments’ are characterised by low levels of physical activity such as walking and cycling which are also issues for promoting sustainable transport). This module explores the many links between these two critical areas of practice for the 21st Century.
Intended Learning Outcomes On successful completion of the module, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the complex connections between health and the environment, with a critical awareness of the contested nature of mankind’s influence on the ‘natural’ environment
2. Assess global environmental changes in terms of causes and their implications for human health;
3. Critically articulate the notion of risk and ‘the risk society’ in relation to environmental hazards, including natural disasters and man-made environmental hazards such as pollution, altered food production, pesticides etc.
4. Evaluate how environmental issues are addressed in current public health and sustainability policy and practice.
5. Evaluate models of public health in relation to their effectiveness in addressing the relationship between health and environment (including the ‘Ecological Public Health’ model)
Summative Assessment Formative Assessment
Items Indicative Word Limit or equivalent (e.g. time) Weighting Intended Learning Outcomes Assessed Anonymous Marking
Case Study identification and initial evaluation 500 word outline and brief presentation 1 -4 NO
Summative Assessment Items
Case Study Analysis 4,000 100% 1 – 5 YES
Sample Assignments
Formative Assessment:

At a regional level (but with reference to relevant national and international influences) identify the different types of environment in the region (e.g. urban, rural agricultural, forest / woodland etc.) and evaluate the key relationships between people and the ecosystems in those environments. Present your evaluation to the group in a format of your choosing. Feedback will be given in relation to the level of understanding going forward to the summative assessment.

Summative Assessment:

Choosing a geographic or administrative region (from which you can also refer to national and international influences) as a case study, write an essay which critically evaluates the overall public health quality of the relationship between people and the environment for that region, and outline a strategy for a public health response to improve health and the environment for that region.

You may want to include any or all of the following, but the list is not exhaustive and you may follow your own approach highlighting key areas of concern and discussion, based on a clear and supported rationale.

1. An overview of the ecosystems in the region highlighting geological, flora, fauna and human components, activities and relationships.
2. Key environmentally linked health issues (positive and negative) in different parts of the regions (e.g. the different health profiles of residents in green areas compared to residents near to large sources of pollution or in polluted urban areas)
3. A critical appraisal of the policies, strategies and practice models available for practitioners in evaluating the environmental and human health of the region
4. Establish and justify why your strategy is specific to the environmental and ecosystem qualities of your region.
Indicative Content
• Understanding the environment – contested ‘natures’; ecosystems and ecosystem services
• The relationship between humans and the environment and the diverse impacts on health – health improvements due to changes to the environment (e.g. increased shelter, food production, safe drinking water etc) pollution and human created environments of risk (Beck’s Risk Society)
• Key Environmental Issues in C21 for Public Health – Climate Change; food security; floods, droughts and migrations; carrying capacity of the earth; limits to growth and consumption; loss of biodiversity and collapse of key ecosystems; ownership and equity – genetic ownership, environmental justice;
• The Precautionary Principle
• Interdisciplinary approaches to environment, sustainability and public health-care
• New models of public health for C21 environmental challenges – Ecological Public Health
• Ecological Public health in practice – models, policies, strategies, skills, tools and case studies of effective practice.

Set Text Rayner, G. and Lang, T. (2012) Ecological Public Health – Reshaping the conditions for god health. Routledge, London and New York.
Essential Reading Hanlon, P., Carlisle, S., Hannah, M. and Lyon A. (2012) The Future Public Health. Open University Press.
Date Module Specification Approved: 05/11/2013
Date and record of revisions:
Reading Lists Reading and resource lists are available through Talis Aspire*.

Reading lists are accessible from https://resourcelists.worc.ac.uk
Search for module code MSPH4007 or access the reading list in blackboard

3. Assessments.
Formative Assessment:

At a regional level (but with reference to relevant national and international influences) identify the different types of environment in the region (e.g. urban, rural agricultural, forest / woodland etc.) and evaluate the key relationships between people and the ecosystems in those environments. Present your evaluation to the group in a format of your choosing. Feedback will be given in relation to the level of understanding going forward to the summative assessment.

Summative Assessment:

Choosing a geographic or administrative region (from which you can also refer to national and international influences) as a case study, write an essay which critically evaluates the overall public health quality of the relationship between people and the environment for that region, and outline a strategy for a public health response to improve health and the environment for that region.

You may want to include any or all of the following, but the list is not exhaustive and you may follow your own approach highlighting key areas of concern and discussion, based on a clear and supported rationale.

1. An overview of the ecosystems in the region highlighting geological, flora, fauna and human components, activities and relationships.
2. Key environmentally linked health issues (positive and negative) in different parts of the regions (e.g. the different health profiles of residents in green areas compared to residents near to large sources of pollution or in polluted urban areas)
3. a critical appraisal of the policies, strategies and practice models available for practitioners in evaluating the environmental and human health of the region
4. A strategy for improving the health and environment in the region, including reference to other strategies developed and applied in other places with reference to their similarities and differences as determined by different types of environment (in other words establish and justify why your strategy is specific to the environmental and ecosystem qualities of your region).