ANHE
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Biological, social, and behavioral factors that make humans, across the life span, more vulnerable to poor health outcomes from environmental stressors.
Harmful Environmental Exposures and Vulnerable Populations
by Jeanne Leffers, PhD, RN
Associate Professor
University of Massachusetts College of Nursing
July 15, 2010
All humans are at risk for harmful effects of environmental hazards. For certain human populations the risks of harm are greater due to biologic, social, economic, or other factors. Such population groups are often referred to as vulnerable populations. A vulnerable population is “at greater risk for ongoing poor health status than other at-risk” groups (Maurer, 2009, p. 533). Some vulnerable groups include children, the poor, those without homes, refugees, and those with mental illness. These vulnerable populations have been identified through epidemiological studies as having poorer health outcomes. This paper will discuss various factors that make specific populations across the life span more vulnerable to poor health outcomes from environmental stressors.
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