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[The spatial dimension in health studies: a historical trajectory]
Historia, Ciencias, Saude--Manguinhos
|February 11, 2005
Summary
This study traces the evolution of spatial concepts in public health from the late 18th to mid-20th centuries, highlighting the influence of medical geography and critical geography. It examines how geographic determinism and human ecology shaped public health perspectives.
Area of Science:
- Medical Geography
- Public Health History
- Critical Geography
Context:
- Examines the historical integration of geographical concepts within public health from the late 18th to mid-20th centuries.
- Reviews intellectual production in medical geography, identifying key periods and disciplinary shifts.
- Highlights the divergence between geography's focus on physical environment and medicine's biological-individual paradigm.
Purpose:
- To re-examine spatial notions incorporated by public health, drawing on critical geography.
- To analyze the historical development of medical geography and its influence on public health.
- To understand the implications of adopting geographic concepts like determinism and human ecology in public health.
Summary:
- The study analyzes the period from Finke's work (1792) through the 19th century, when geography and medicine emerged as distinct scientific disciplines.
- It discusses the adoption of geographic determinism, type of life, and human ecology by public health.
- Key figures like Max Sorré and Pavlovsky, and the 1952 International Geographical Union commission, are examined in relation to the 'new geography'.
Impact:
- Provides a historical perspective on the spatial dimensions of public health.
- Informs contemporary understanding of how geographical frameworks influence health research and policy.
- Contributes to the historiography of both geography and public health, emphasizing interdisciplinary connections.