Classroom

The Link Between Community Health and the Environment

Selected Publications

Incorporating Sustainability into Community Based-Healthcare Practice (Patrick 2011)

Healthier Hospitals Initiative (Samet 2011)

Beyond the Bin: How Healthcare is Responding to the Sustainability Movement (Popely 2009)

Letter to the Editor: The Challenge of Environmental Sustainability in Healthcare (Brown 2009)

In educating people to adopt healthy behaviors, we promote eating right and exercising. In the same way we promote these actions, we should encourage environmental stewardship since the health of our environment affects community health. Many health issues are directly related to the quality of our water and air. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 1.3 million deaths a year result from urban air pollution (link). Furthermore, the healthcare industry is a significant consumer of energy and water and generates considerable amounts of waste. The industry has a responsibility to adopt sustainable practices in order to efficiently use its resources and minimize environmental impacts. 

Teaching our Students Sustainability at UNTHSC

Are you interested in incorporating sustainability principles into your class and/or research? Or does your class and/or research already have sustainability principles as part of the curriculum? Please contact the Office of Sustainability and let us know. We would like to partner with you in addressing this topic at the university.