The Ecological Approach to Public Health Root Causes

Traditional approaches to public health and the health initiative have been flawed. A modern body of research in public health has been successful in demonstrating why the novel ecological approach to health and wellness is necessary to encourage wellness and foster permanent lifestyle and behavioral modification. In addition, the ecological approach is important in order to develop an understanding of root causes of inequities and discriminations, which lead to unhealthy behaviors or conditions in which individuals struggle to prosper. A traditional definition of the ecological perspective in public health implies reciprocal causation between the individual and the environment from micro- to macrolevels [1] for example, the host-agent-environment model of ecology in public health. The ecological model, as described by Minkler [2], is composed of intra- and inter-personal factors, community and organizational factors, public policies which are interdependent levels of analysis to be considered. This conception is much more appropriate for a public health perspective. Individual’s developmental histories and their social support systems; the organizational structures and process that can positively or negatively affect health behavior; community networks and power structures; and both the content of our public policies and the role of participation, advocacy, and other process in their formation all are key component of a broad ecological perspective in health.