Preventive Medicine for Person, Place, and Planet: Revisiting the Concept of High-Level Wellness in the Planetary Health Paradigm

Experts in preventive medicine and public health have long-since recognized that health is more than the absence of disease, and that each person in the ‘waiting room’ and beyond manifests the social/political/economic ecosystems that are part of their total lived experience. The...

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Main Authors: Susan L. Prescott, Alan C. Logan, David L. Katz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-01-01
Series:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/2/238
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spelling doaj-3009ea8023f844f2b336014319d026e92020-11-25T01:48:38ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012019-01-0116223810.3390/ijerph16020238ijerph16020238Preventive Medicine for Person, Place, and Planet: Revisiting the Concept of High-Level Wellness in the Planetary Health ParadigmSusan L. Prescott0Alan C. Logan1David L. Katz2Department of Paediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, AustraliainVIVO Planetary Health, Research Group of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), West New York, NJ 10704, USAPrevention Research Center, Yale University School of Public Health, Griffin Hospital, Derby, CT 06418, USAExperts in preventive medicine and public health have long-since recognized that health is more than the absence of disease, and that each person in the ‘waiting room’ and beyond manifests the social/political/economic ecosystems that are part of their total lived experience. The term planetary health—denoting the interconnections between the health of person and place at all scales—emerged from the environmental and preventive health movements of the 1970–1980s. Roused by the 2015 Lancet Commission on Planetary Health report, the term has more recently penetrated mainstream academic and medical discourse. Here, we discuss the relevance of planetary health in the era of personalized medicine, gross environmental concerns, and a crisis of non-communicable diseases. We frame our discourse around high-level wellness—a concept of vitality defined by Halbert L. Dunn (1896–1975); high-level wellness was defined as an integrated method of functioning which is oriented toward maximizing the potential of individuals within the total lived environment. Dunn maintained that high-level wellness is also applicable to organizations, communities, nations, and humankind as a whole—stating further that global high-level wellness is a product of the vitality and sustainability of the Earth’s natural systems. He called for a universal philosophy of living. Researchers and healthcare providers who focus on lifestyle and environmental aspects of health—and understand barriers such as authoritarianism and social dominance orientation—are fundamental to maintaining trans-generational vitality at scales of person, place, and planet.http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/2/238planetary healthpreventive medicineclinical ecologysocial justicehealth disparitiesecosystemsnon-communicable diseasesdysbiosisnatural environmentsvitality and sustainability
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Susan L. Prescott
Alan C. Logan
David L. Katz
spellingShingle Susan L. Prescott
Alan C. Logan
David L. Katz
Preventive Medicine for Person, Place, and Planet: Revisiting the Concept of High-Level Wellness in the Planetary Health Paradigm
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
planetary health
preventive medicine
clinical ecology
social justice
health disparities
ecosystems
non-communicable diseases
dysbiosis
natural environments
vitality and sustainability
author_facet Susan L. Prescott
Alan C. Logan
David L. Katz
author_sort Susan L. Prescott
title Preventive Medicine for Person, Place, and Planet: Revisiting the Concept of High-Level Wellness in the Planetary Health Paradigm
title_short Preventive Medicine for Person, Place, and Planet: Revisiting the Concept of High-Level Wellness in the Planetary Health Paradigm
title_full Preventive Medicine for Person, Place, and Planet: Revisiting the Concept of High-Level Wellness in the Planetary Health Paradigm
title_fullStr Preventive Medicine for Person, Place, and Planet: Revisiting the Concept of High-Level Wellness in the Planetary Health Paradigm
title_full_unstemmed Preventive Medicine for Person, Place, and Planet: Revisiting the Concept of High-Level Wellness in the Planetary Health Paradigm
title_sort preventive medicine for person, place, and planet: revisiting the concept of high-level wellness in the planetary health paradigm
publisher MDPI AG
series International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
issn 1660-4601
publishDate 2019-01-01
description Experts in preventive medicine and public health have long-since recognized that health is more than the absence of disease, and that each person in the ‘waiting room’ and beyond manifests the social/political/economic ecosystems that are part of their total lived experience. The term planetary health—denoting the interconnections between the health of person and place at all scales—emerged from the environmental and preventive health movements of the 1970–1980s. Roused by the 2015 Lancet Commission on Planetary Health report, the term has more recently penetrated mainstream academic and medical discourse. Here, we discuss the relevance of planetary health in the era of personalized medicine, gross environmental concerns, and a crisis of non-communicable diseases. We frame our discourse around high-level wellness—a concept of vitality defined by Halbert L. Dunn (1896–1975); high-level wellness was defined as an integrated method of functioning which is oriented toward maximizing the potential of individuals within the total lived environment. Dunn maintained that high-level wellness is also applicable to organizations, communities, nations, and humankind as a whole—stating further that global high-level wellness is a product of the vitality and sustainability of the Earth’s natural systems. He called for a universal philosophy of living. Researchers and healthcare providers who focus on lifestyle and environmental aspects of health—and understand barriers such as authoritarianism and social dominance orientation—are fundamental to maintaining trans-generational vitality at scales of person, place, and planet.
topic planetary health
preventive medicine
clinical ecology
social justice
health disparities
ecosystems
non-communicable diseases
dysbiosis
natural environments
vitality and sustainability
url http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/2/238
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