Health geography
Health Sociology
Definition. Health geography studies how place, space and environment shape health, disease and access to care.
Explanation
It grew out of medical geography, which in some periods served imperial and administrative goals (Afanasyeva et al., 2021). An introductory review on The Health Topics, based on Web of Science literature, shows why location should be treated as a health variable in management and policy (Kurutkan, 2026).
Related concepts
Access to care Social determinants of health Commercial determinants of health Health inequalities
Read on The Health Topics
References
Afanasyeva, A., Renner, A., & Vishlenkova, E. (2021). Medical geography in imperial Russia: A transnational concept at the service of the empire, 1770-1870. Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, 69(1), 3-29. https://doi.org/10.25162/JGO-2021-0001
Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Health geography 101: Why “where” is a health variable. The Health Topics. https://healthtopic.org/topics/health-geography-101-why-where-is-a-health-variable/
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Health geography. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/health-geography/