How Is EcoHealth Different?
EcoHealth studies differ from traditional, single discipline studies. A traditional epidemiological study may show increasing rates of malaria in a region, but not address how or why the rate is increasing. An environmental health study may recommend the spraying of a pesticide in certain amounts in certain areas to reduce spread. An economic analysis may calculate the cost and effectiveness per dollar spent on such a program. An EcoHealth study uses a different approach. It brings the multiple specialist disciplines together with members of the affected community before the study begins. Through pre-study meetings the group shares knowledge and adopts a common language. These pre-study meetings often lead to creative and novel approaches and can lead to a more “socially robust” solution. EcoHealth practitioners term this synergy transdisciplinarity, and differentiate it from multidiscipline studies. EcoHealth studies also value participation of all involved groups, including decision makers and believe issues of equity (between gender, socioeconomic classes, age and even species) are important to fully understand the problem to be studied. Jean Lebel (2003) phrased transdisciplinarity, participation and equity the three pillars of EcoHealth.
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