Animals, Health, and Society: Health Promotion, Harm Reduction, and Health Equity in a One Health World

CHOICE Recommended title 2022

This timely book reframes the historic narrative of people, animals, and nature as risks to each other, to one where we think about health as a shared capacity. This new narrative promotes the positive contributions made to health across species and generations and addresses growing calls to shift from a reactive to proactive approach in One Health.

Editor Craig Stephen takes the reader on a tour of the situations wherein we can all, regardless of our job description, work across species, sectors, and generations to motivate action. Perspectives and methods from a variety of fields and experts are shared and adapted to promote collaborative understanding of and action on determinants of health at the animal-society interface. Case studies demonstrate that the principles and practices presented are feasible, empowering people to make choices that concurrently benefit the health of animals, societies, and ecosystems.

The first book to adapt and explain health promotion, harm reduction, and health equity issues in a One Health context, and in terms of animal health, this is necessary reading for students of and practitioners working in planetary health, conservation, ecohealth, public health, health promotion, veterinary medicine, and animal welfare.

Craig Stephen has been working at the interface of human, animal, and environmental health for over 25 years. He most recently was a Professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan and a Clinical Professor at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. He has held a variety of adjunct and affiliate academic positions including as an adjunct professor at the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. Craig is a veterinarian and epidemiologist who has held a variety of One Health leadership positions including being the founding president and director of the Centre for Coastal Health, the scientific director of the Animal Determinants of Emerging Diseases Research Network, the Scientific Director of the British Columbia Occupational and Environmental Health Network, a Canada Research Chair in Integrating Human and Animal Health and the CEO of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative. His work has focussed on applying population health principles to a variety of human, wildlife, fish and domestic animal populations dealing with issue from food sustainability and poverty reduction to conservation to emerging environmental threats.