Dr. Trevor Hancock takes a look at the determinants of health in the context of Canadian life in 2016, focusing on sustainability, equity and governance for health
Dr. Trevor Hancock is a public health physician and a professor at the University of Victoria. In his recent regular column for the Victoria Times-Colonist, he writes about the key principles of public health — and identifies three themes for 2016.
Sustainability and ecological sanity
Dr. Hancock says we are out of balance in the domains of “ecological sanity”:
I came to the concept of ecological sanity from the writing of James Robertson, a leading alternative futures thinker. In his 1978 book The Sane Alternative, he proposed an alternative sane, humane and ecological future. Sanity, he wrote, is balance within ourselves; humanity is balance between ourselves and other people; being ecological means finding balance between people and the planet. All three are fundamental determinants of our health. Today, it seems we are out of balance in all three domains; in particular we are acting in ways that are ecologically insane. — Dr. Trevor Hancock, Victoria Times-Colonist
Equity and social justice
Dr. Hancock writes that social justice “involves having respect for others, trying to see the world through their eyes, understanding their culture and not seeking to impose our own” while also not “accepting behaviours that oppress, injure or kill others, or otherwise violate their basic human rights.”
He specifically identifies the fundamental injustice of the levels of wealth concentration we see today, whether at a local or a global level:
Levels of wealth inequality have reached unacceptable — and unhealthy — levels. A 2014 report from the Broadbent Institute, using Statistics Canada data for 2012, found that the top 10 per cent of Canadians owned 48 per cent of the wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent owned 5.5 per cent — and the bottom 10 per cent had no net worth, but were in debt. Moreover, the concentration of wealth was highest in B.C., where the top 10 per cent owned 56 per cent of the wealth. — Dr. Trevor Hancock, Victoria Times-Colonist
Governance for health
Dr. Hancock writes that “governance — the shared management of the city by its citizens, community organizations and institutions — is crucial in creating a healthy city, one that is ecologically and socially sustainable.” He links governance for health to both sustainability and social justice:
In particular, we must recognize that the policies that most affect health lie beyond the health-care system. This means we have to work beyond health care and partner with other departments and sectors at all levels to create public (and private) policies that are good for health. Chief among these are policies to promote ecological sustainability and social justice. — Dr. Trevor Hancock, Victoria Times-Colonist
We speak with Dr. Trevor Hancock.
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About Trevor Hancock
Dr. Trevor Hancock is a public health physician and health promotion consultant and is currently a professor and senior scholar at the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria. He writes a regular column for the Victoria Times-Colonist that focuses on issues related to health.
audio | Dr. Trevor Hancock on #peoplefirstradio @CHLYRadio @Uvic_PHSP #publichealth #policy https://t.co/mmJ4y3CnQb pic.twitter.com/u6dS4ik2gn
— People First Radio (@peoplefirstrad) January 7, 2016
