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Intervention strategy on university education in environmental health

Abstract:

The biological-physical, social and economic dimensions of the ecosystem hierarchy are linked to the interaction of the environment with human health and disease; generating a harmful cycle, since the reduction of human well-being tends to increase the dependence of ecosystems, harming their capacity, reducing the sustainability of natural resources. Environmental training in university spaces is necessary for the construction of knowledge linked to the transformation of reality, internalizing the ecological conditions of sustainable development. A study was conducted on 67 medical students from the Autonomous Regional University of the Andes (UNIANDES), to evaluate the interaction between the dimensions of sustainable development; and generate intervention strategies on university education in environmental health. A questionnaire was applied in order to assess the knowledge of the participants on the fundamentals of education for sustainability and identification of determinants of environmental health, as well as to evaluate the construction of proposals in environmental health. It was obtained that more than 70% of the participants show a knowledge between acceptable and optimal regarding the dimensions of sustainable development, while for the environmental dimension they show little knowledge; In addition, more than 50% recognize environmental problems and prioritize activities to mitigate them. In order to transform university education in environmental health, it is proposed to promote knowledge of the environmental and health dimensions, execution of activities for sustainable development, execution of measures to protect natural resources and environmental training of the community.