The Ecofeminist Role of Public Health Nursing

Abstract

Women’s health is a phenomenon shaped by the influence of social, economic, political, cultural, and environmental factors as well as biological processes. It is known that the factors that threaten human health after industrialization are not limited to genetics and lifestyle, but are also shaped by phenomena that are exacerbated by anthropogenic effects such as environmental pollution, climate change and ecological destruction. This study aims to examine the precautions that can be taken against phenomena that affect nature and women through similar mechanisms within an ecofeminist framework. Among nursing metaparadigms, the concept of environment is most commonly used by public health nursing and is inherently included in ecofeminist structures. Eco-feminist roles in public health nursing practice are shaped by advocating for environmental health, strengthening women's access to health services, promoting sustainable health practices, and increasing women's participation in environmental policies. Through these roles, public health nursing acquires an ecological and ethical dimension that encompasses a more inclusive and broader sphere of influence, as well as clinical and societal dimensions. Thus, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the health of both society and women in harmony with nature.

Keywords

• environmental health
• Public Health Nursing
• women's health

Supporting Institution

There is no supporting organization.

Ethical Statement

It is within the scope of the study that does not require an ethics committee decision.

Thanks

There is no.

Halk Sağlığı Hemşireliğinin Ekofeminist Rolü

Abstract

Kadın sağlığı biyolojik süreçlerin yanı sıra toplumsal, ekonomik, politik, kültürel ve çevresel dinamiklerle şekillenen çok boyutlu bir olgudur. Sanayileşme sonrası insan sağlığını tehdit eden etmenlerin sadece genetik veya yaşam tarzı ile sınırlandırılamadığı; aynı zamanda çevresel kirlenme, iklim değişikliği ve ekolojik yıkım gibi antropojenik etkilerin şiddetlendirdiği olgular etrafında şekillendiği bilinmektedir. Bu çalışma doğayı ve kadını benzer mekanizmalar ile etkileyen olgulara karşı alınabilecek önlemleri ekofeminist çerçevede incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Hemşirelik metaparadigmaları arasında çevre kavramını en yaygın kullanan halk sağlığı hemşireliği, doğası gereği ekofeminist yapının içerisinde yer almaktadır. Halk sağlığı hemşireliği pratiğindeki ekofeminist roller; çevresel sağlığın savunulması, kadınların sağlık hizmetlerine erişiminin güçlendirilmesi, sürdürülebilir sağlık uygulamalarına teşvik edilmesi ve çevresel politikalara kadın katılımının artırılması doğrultusunda şekillenmektedir. Bu roller ile halk sağlığı hemşireliği klinik ve toplumsal boyutların yanı sıra daha kapsayıcı ve etki alanını genişletecek olan ekolojik bir etik boyut kazanmaktadır. Böylece toplumun ve kadınların sağlığını doğayla bütünleşik sürdürmenin önemine dikkat çekmektedir.

Keywords

• Çevre Sağlığı
• Halk Sağlığı Hemşireliği
• Kadın Sağlığı

Supporting Institution

Destekleyen kurum yoktur.

Ethical Statement

Etik kurul kararı gerektirmeyen çalışma kapsamındadır.

Thanks

Yoktur.

References

1. Adeniyi-Ogunyankin, G., & Peake, L. (2021). Understanding the ımportance of a gendered analysis of covıd-19 (pp. 341–347). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70179-6_45
2. Agarwal, B. (1992). The gender and environment debate: Lessons from India. Feminist Studies, 18(1), 119– 158. https://doi.org/10.2307/3178217
3. Alhalawani, S., & Al-Serhan, A. (2024). Reshaping gender norms: Exploring the ripple effect of refugeeism on women’s empowerment. Development Policy Review. 42(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12805
4. Almeida, L. D. P. (2023). Metaparadigm of “Nursology”: study of co occurrence of terms (Master’s thesis, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil). Repositório Institutional da UFBA.
5. Arnocky, S., Dupuis, D. R., & Stroink, M. L. (2012). Environmental concern and fertility intentions among Canadian university students. Population and Environment, 34(2), 279– 292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-011-0164-y
6. Asmare, B. A., Freyer, B., & Bingen, J. (2022). Women in agriculture: Pathways of pesticide exposure, potential health risks and vulnerability in sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental Sciences Europe, 34(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-022-00638-8
7. Azoulay, C. (2024). Impacts de la crise environnementale et climatique sur la santé de la femme : quelles spécificités ? Que peut-on faire ? Gynécologie Obstétrique Fertilité & Sénologie , 52(9), 524–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gofs.2024.03.004
8. Balali, H., A. Morabbi & Karimian, M. (2024). Concerning influences of micro/nano plastics on female reproductive health: focusing on cellular and molecular pathways from animal models to human studies. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 22(1), 141. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12958-024-01314-7

9. Buckingham, S. (2015). Ecofeminism. In J.D. Wright (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (2nd ed., pp. 845-850). Elsevier.
10. Burgan, E. (2023). Ekofeminiz. Feminist Bellek. Erişim tarihi 10 Ekim 2025, https://feministbellek.org/ekofeminizm/
11. Cezar-Vaz, M. R., Bonow, C. A., Sant’ Anna, C. F., Rocha, L. P., Almeida, M. C. V. de, & Silva, M. R. S. da. (2013). Environmental health in public health community practice: An integrative review of the literature. Health, 5(9), 1422–1432. https://doi.org/10.4236/HEALTH.2013.59194
12. Cosh, S., Ryan, R., Fallander, K., Robinson, K., Tognela, J., Tully, P. J., & Lykins, A. D. (2024). The relationship between climate change and mental health: a systematic review of the association between eco-anxiety, psychological distress, and symptoms of major affective disorders. BMC Psychiatry, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-06274-1
13. Çalgüner, T. (2003). Çevre mi? Ekoloji mi? Nobel Yayın Dağıtım.
14. Dağhan, Ş. (2017). “Halk sağlığı hemşireliği felsefesiyle hemşire olmak” anlamı nedir? Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Hemşirelik Fakültesi Elektronik Dergisi. 10(2), 107-112.
15. de la Cour, F. V. F. (1871). Du féminisme et de l'infantilisme chez les tuberculeux. (Doctoral dissertation), A. Parent, imprimeur de la Faculté de médecine.
16. Dillarstone, H., Brown, L. J., & Flores, E. C. (2023). Climate change, mental health, and reproductive decision- making: A systematic review. Plos Climate, 2(11), e0000236. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000236
17. Dressel, A., Bell-Calvin, J., Lee, E., Hermanns, L., Anderko, L., Swaney, V., Steinberg, J. A., Hawkins, M., & Yeldell, S. (2021). Sustaining a nurse-led community partnership to promote environmental justice. Public Health Nursing, 38(2), 136–140. https://doi.org/10.1111/PHN.12820
18. Fayolle, C. (2018). Des corps «monstres». Historique du stigmate féministe. GLAD!. Revue sur le langage, le genre, les sexualités, (4), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.4000/glad.1034
19. Foster, E. (2021). Ecofeminism revisited: critical insights on contemporary environmental governance. Feminist Theory, 22(2), 190-205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700120988639
20. Ganbaatar, G., Ohashi, M., Kamarul, Z. M., Mohd, A., Yamawaki, K., Matsuo, H., Pileap, S., Nishiyama, A., Inoue, S., & Yano, Y. (2025). Space prescription: Initiative to improve health and well-being in Tokyo. Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis, 32(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.5551/jat.rv22028
21. Gayathri, KG, Vijayalakshmi, P., Krishnan, S., Rekha, S., Latha, PK & Venugopal, V. (2025). Exploring eco- anxiety among women amid climate-induced heat: a comprehensive review. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1480337. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1480337
22. Gedik, Y. (2020). Sosyal, ekonomik ve çevresel boyutlarla sürdürülebilirlik ve sürdürülebilir kalkınma. Uluslararası Ekonomi Siyaset İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Dergisi, 3(3), 196- 215. https://izlik.org/JA94FY76EF
23. Golestani, R., Khalajabadi Farahani, F., & Peters, P. A. (2025). Exploring barriers to accessing health care services by young women in rural settings: A qualitative study in Australia, Canada, and Sweden. BMC Public Health, 25(1), Article 213 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21387-2
24. Inam, Ö. (2025). Impact of microplastics on female reproductive health: insights from animal and human experimental studies: A systematic review. Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics 312(1), 77-92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-024-07929-w
25. Khan, M. A. (2024). Gender, culture, and migration: A qualitative study of the socioeconomic challenges facing Afghan women refugees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. African Journal of Reroductive Health Revue Africaine de Sante de la Peproduction, 28(5), 90–102. https://doi.org/10.29063/ajrh2024/v28i5.11
26. Laustsen, G. (2006). Environment, ecosystems, and ecological behavior: A dialogue toward developing nursing ecological theory. Advances in Nursing Science, 29(1), 43–54. https://doi.org/10.1097/00012272200601000-00005
27. Liu Q. (2021). Effects of environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals on female reproductive health. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 1300, 205–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4187-6_10
28. McClam, M., Liu, J., Fan, Y., Zhan, T., Zhang, Q., Porter, D. E., Scott, G. I., & Xiao, S. (2023). Associations between exposure to cadmium, lead, mercury and mixtures and women’s infertility and long-term amenorrhea. Archives of Public Health, 81, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-023-01172-6
29. Mishra, I. A. (2020). Women and nature in BP Koirala’s Sumnima: An ecofeminist study. Dristikon: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 10(1), 128–142. https://doi.org/10.3126/dristikon.v10i1.34547
30. Myers, S. S., & Patz, J. A. (2009). Emerging threats to human health from global environmental change. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 34(1), 223–252. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.environ.033108.102650
31. Norgaard, K., & York, R. (2005). Gender equality and state environmentalism. Gender & Society, 19(4), 506- 522. Ofori, D., Bandauko, E., Kutor, S. K., Odoi, A., Asare, A. B., Akyea, T., & Arku, G. (2023). A systematic review of international and internal climate-induced migration in Africa. Sustainability, 15(22). https://doi.org/10.3390/su152216105
32. Onyeneho, N. G., Aronu, N. I., Igwe, I., Okeibunor, J., Diarra, T., Anoko, J., Djingarey, M. H., Yoti, Z., Chamla, D., & Gueye, A. S. (2023). The impact of the ebola virus disease epidemic among women in the provinces of north kivu and ituri in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Journal of Immunological Sciences. Supplement 3, 11-19 https://doi.org/10.29245/2578-3009/2023/s3.1103
33. Ostfeld, R. S. (2009). Climate change and the distribution and intensity of infectious diseases. Ecology, 90(4), 903–905. https://doi.org/10.1890/08-0659.1
34. Özdemir, H. & Aydemir, D. (2019). Ekolojik yaklaşımlı feminizm/ekofeminizm üzerine genel bir değerlendirme: Kavramsal analizi, tarihi süreci ve türleri. Akdeniz Kadın Çalışmaları ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet Dergisi 2(2), 261-278. https://doi.org/10.33708/ktc.608639
35. Öztürk, D., & Gürsoy, S. (2023). Ekofeminist perspektiften paris iklim anlaşması’nın eleştirel bir değerlendirmesi. Alternatif Politika, 15(3), 522-549. https://doi.org/10.53376/ap.2023.20
36. Panis, C., Candiotto, L. Z. P., Gaboardi, S. C., Teixeira, G. T., Alves, F. M., da Silva, J. C., Scandolara, T. B., Rech, D., Gurzenda, S., Ponmattam, J., Ohm, J. E., Castro, M. C., & Lemos, B. (2024). Exposure to pesticides and breast cancer in an agricultural region in Brazil. Environmental Science & Technology, 58(24), 10470–10481. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c08695
37. Pihkala, P. (2020). Anxiety and the ecological crisis: An analysis of eco-anxiety and climate anxiety. Sustainability, 12(19), 7836. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197836
38. Rattan, S., Brehm, E., Gao, L., & Flaws, J. A. (2018). Di(2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate exposure during prenatal development causes adverse transgenerational effects on female fertility in mice. Toxicological sciences, 163(2), 420–429. https://doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfy042
39. Resmi Gazete. (2017). Binalar ile Yerleşmeler İçin Yeşil Sertifika Yönetmeliği. https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2017/12/20171223-3.htm (5.10.2025).
40. Ribeiro, A. I., Vilaça, I. M., Henriques, A., Pastor‐Valero, M., Matijasevich, A., Severo, M., & Barros, H. (2025). The role of individual, household, and neighborhood-level factors in eco-anxiety: results from a birth cohort study of Portuguese adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health: official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 77(6), 1077-1087 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2025.07.021
41. Romanello, M., Di Napoli, C., Drummond, P., Green, C., Kennard, H., Lampard, P., Scanlon, K., Sacks, G., Walawender, M., Cimini, A., Hayman, K., Baid, S., Belesova, K., Bhardwaj, N., Blanco, S., Braithwaite, I., Buan, S., Cho, Y. S., Cong, S. C., ... Costello, A. (2023). The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: The imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms. The Lancet, 402(10419), 2346–2394.
42. Sam, K., & Zibima, T. (2024). Inclusive environmental decision-making in a developing nation: Insights from the Ogoni Remediation Project, Niger Delta, Nigeria. Environmental Management, 73(2), 323-337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023-01885-y
43. Saravanan, P., Saravanan, V., Rajeshkannan, R., Rajeshkannan, R., Rajasimman, M., Baskar, G., & Pugazhendhi, A. (2024). Comprehensive review on toxic heavy metals in the aquatic system: sources, identification, treatment strategies, and health risk assessment. Environmental Research, 258, 119440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.119440
44. Segala, F. V., Guido, G., Stroffolini, G., Masini, L., Cattaneo, P., Moro, L., Motta, L., Gobbi, F., Nicastri, E., Vita, S., Iatta, R., Otranto, D., Locantore, P., Occa, E., Putoto, G., Saracino, A., & Di Gennaro, F. (2025). Insights into the ecological and climate crisis: emerging infections threatening human health. Acta Tropica, 262, Article 107531 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2025.107531
45. T.C. Çevre, Şehircilik ve İklim Değişikliği Bakanlığı. (2023). T.C. Çevre, Şehircilik ve İklim Değişikliği Bakanlığı. https://iklim.gov.tr/ (Erişim tarihi: 25 Mayıs 2025)
46. Tallman, P. S., Collins, S. M., Salmón-Mulanovich, G., Rusyidi, B., Kothadia, A., & Cole, S. (2022). Water insecurity and gender‐based violence: A global review of the evidence. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 10(1), Article e1619 https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1619
47. Terefe, B., Workneh, B. S., Zeleke, G. A., Mekonen, E. G., Zegeye, A. F., Aemro, A., Tekeba, B., Tamir, T. T., Wassie, M., & Ali, M. S. (2025). Uncovering women’s healthcare access challenges in low- and middle-income countries using mixed effects modelling approach: Insights for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. PLOS ONE, 20(1), e0314309. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314309
48. Thaddeus, S., & Maine, D. (1994). Too far to walk: maternal mortality in context. Social Science & Medicine, 38(8), 1091-1110.https://mamazur.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/03/Thaddeau_1994_TooFarToWalk.pdf
49. Tremblay, É., & Harrisson, S. (2025). Integrating ecofeminism ınto canadian nursing to tackle climate change and health ıssues. Nursing Inquiry. 32(3), Article e70035. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nin.70035
50. UN Women. (2021). Gender equality in the water sector: Key ıssues and policy responses. UNEP. (2016). Gender and the Environment: New Policy Perspectives. United Nations Environment Programme.
51. Wakefield, J. (2001). Environmental Florence Nightingales: nursing’s new front line. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(3), A118-A123 https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP.109-A118
52. Windak, A., Rochfort, A., & Jacquet, J. (2024). The revised European definition of general practice/family medicine. A pivotal role of one health, planetary health and sustainable development goals. European Journal of General Practice, 30(1), 2306936. https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2024.2306936
53. Wolf, J. G. (2024). Why we all lose when Indigenous women suffer: An ecological perspective. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 22(2), e2717. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2717
54. World Health Organization. (2023). Women and girls bear brunt of water and sanitation crisis-new UNICEF- WHO report. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news/item/06-072023-women-and-girls- bear-brunt-of-water-and-sanitation-crisis---new-unicef-who-report
55. World Meteorological Organization. (2025, March 19). State of the Global Climate 2024. https://wmo.int/publication-series/state-of-global-climate-2024
56. Yılmaz, H., Düzenli, A. & Dağ, MM (2024). Dünya, Avrupa Birliği ülkeleri ve Türkiye'de pestisit kullanımı ve yasal düzenlemeler. Türkiye Tarımsal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 11(3), 315-330. https://doi.org/10.19159/tutad.1536186