Health Geography and Health Care

Course Main Objective

1. define of medical geography and its research domains and latest fields of study.
2. Learn about medical geography and its research domains and latest fields of study.
3. Highlight the environmental factors affecting human health and endemic diseases and connect theoretical teaching of geography with an application to the milieu like selecting a number of diseases related to the Eastern Province and its relation to a number of the regional natural and human factors.
4. Differentiate among the health services and standards used in their distribution spatially and the criteria of sustainable health development.
5. Analyze diseases and their causes geographically and spatially in the Kingdom and the Eastern Province and ways to combat within the Kingdom's plans and strategies of sustainable development in order to achieve quality of life in health and increase life expectancy according to Vision2030.

Course Learning Outcomes

• 1. Knowledge and Comprehension
• 1.1 Define the medical geography and its evolution and the relation between diseases and the natural and human factors and their impact.
• 2. Skills
• 2.1 Differentiate among diseases in the world and their distribution geographically and the affecting factors as well as the interpreting theories worldwide.
• 2.2 Use the geographic electronic applications and some quantitative methods to study disease distribution and endemics. 
• 3. Values
• 3.1 Appreciate teamwork and community responsibility.

Course Content:

- Medical geography: its concept, content, evolution, methodology and relation to other similar sciences.
- Natural environmental factors: geographic site, terrain.
- Natural environmental factors: the geological composition, soil, water
- Natural environmental factors: climate, bio-ecology
- Human environmental factors: genetic and personal traits, economic level.
- Human environmental factors: type of work or profession, cultural appearances.
- Human environmental factors: urban growth- human movements- pollution- food and nutrition.
- Geography of disease (malnutrition diseases- Anemia- helminthic diseases- river blindness-...etc.,).
- Plans of development in health field in KSA.

Textbook (s)

Primary Source:
- Sharaf, Abdel Aziz.T.(2013). Environment and Human Health in Health Geography. Shabab elgamaa, Alexandria.
Secondary Sources:
- Jaber, Al-Banna., Muhammad, Medhat.F. (1998). Studies on Health Geography. Dar Nashr, Cairo.
 

Course ID: GEOG 454