Environmental Health and Disaster Management Flashcards
Health and illness result from broad factors
social economics, policies, environment, social support
- social justice: social responsibility for health
- creating social & physical environments to promote health
- Interdependence among individual & subsystems of ecosystem (family, community, culture, environment)
Environmental Health
“The environment is everything that isnt me”
- all the pieces outside of a person that impact their health
- is increasingly connected with climate change
- 25% of global disease burden linked to environmental factors
Quality of Life
determined by physical, chemical, biological agents, social and psychosocial factors in the environment.
- Involves assessing, correcting, controlling, and preventing factors in the environment that can potentially adversely affect the health of present and future generations
Ecological Determinants of Health
“a healthy environment is fundamental to life, and attention to the effect of the environment on human health is imperative if we are to attain the goal of health for all”
Disaster Relief: Triple Threat
- Natural
- Man-made
- Epidemics
Since 2010 2.6 billion in 45 countries were victims of the health threats associated with natural disasters/social or economic crisis
Types of Disasters (5):
- natural disasters (unpredictable)
- human-made disasters (mass injuries & death)
- Bioterrorism (intentional use of micro-organ to cause death)
- Epidemics (spread of infectious diseases)
- Pandemics (widespread infections across globe infecting high pop.)
The urbanization and overcrowding of cities:
increased destructive power of both human-made and natural disasters
- developing countries experience a disproportionate burden (d/t limited resources, death rate 12x higher, less social supports)
Environmental Health Factors:
- Categorization
- Routes of Entry
Categorization: chemical, physical, biological, psychological & ergonomic
Routes of Entry: inhalation, absorption, injection, ingestion
Environmental Epidemiology
- The study of the effect of physical, chemical and biological factors in the external environment on human health
“everything is connected to everything”
Impact of Environmental Health: Canadian Perspective
- Canada considered healthy in terms of the environmental burden of disease
- vulnerable & disparate groups, First Nations Communities, & Children (immigrants, poverty, migrant workers, visible minorities, homeless, single moms) differ from national average
Impact of Environmental Health: Global Health Perspective
Impact of environmental hazards heaviest amongst poor & vulnerable populations
- Largest absolute burden of disease attributable to modifiable
- 24% of the Global disease burden and 23% of all deaths can be attributed to environmental factors (WHO)
Degree of Hazard Depends on:
1) nature of agent involved
2) intensity of the exposure
3) Duration of exposure
Degree of Hazard Consider:
1) how much of the agent required to produce effect
2) the likelihood of that happening
3) rate of agent generation/emission
4) Total contact time
5) any reductive measure taken or possible
Categorization of Environmental Factors: Physical constructs
- structures where people live, work, worship, play
- community systems, such as roads, transportation systems, land use practices, waste management
- Radiation, noise, vibration, extremes in temperature/air pressure, road safety, housing quality
Categorization of Environmental Factors: Chemical
Chemical component associated with structure, foods, products, and waste products of these chemicals (vapors, gases, dusts, fumes, mists, household cleaners, smoke)
Categorization of Environmental Factors: Biological
any living organisms causing adverse health effects (bacteria, viruses, fungi, pests, insects, animals, water safety, food safety, dusts)
Categorization of Environmental Factors: Psychological
stress/distress events impacting health (illness, death, birth, job promotion, finances, interpersonal conflict)
Categorization of Environmental Factors: Ergonomic
Workstation design, repetitive motion
Environmental Health Inequities
- Geographic and Geopolitical Location
- Social Location
- Developmental Stage
Social Location
- Place/position in society - SES (tied to physical context)
- impact on access to clean environment and how much
- lifestyle factors (diet, exercise, sleep/rest, recreation)
- Other societal influences: population density, violence, stress
- Identity: man, woman, LGBTQ2S, child, older adult, ethnic/religious group
Developmental Stage
Children & Older Adults
- most vulnerable to environment exposure r/t underdeveloped/weakening of protective defense mechanisms
Intersectionality - Indigenous Older Adults
- exposure to pollutants in traditional diets - disproportionally higher accumulation of toxins
Environmental Frameworks
- Indigenous Perspective on Health & Environment
- Intersectional Ecological-Feminist Approaches
- Planetary Health Approaches
Role of CHNs in Environmental Health
- Prevent, Educate, Advocate, Anticipate, Recognize, Evaluate, and Control for environmental exposures that could bring harm/impact health of a population (identify risk at prevention level –> advocate for policy changes
- Lead interventions at the individual, community, and population levels to reduce the burden of environmental disease
- Requires a multidisciplinary approach to identify modifiable environmental factors
- Physicians, industrial hygienists, toxicologists, engineers, safety professionals, scientists, provincial health & safety officers, work-place safety officials, urban planners, lobbyists
Environmental Ethics and Justice
Ethical issues likely to arise in environmental health decisions:
- Who has access to information and when
- How complete and accurate is the information
- Who is included in decision making, and when
- What or whose values and priorities are given weight in decisions?
- How are short- and long-term consequences considered?
- Is there a conflict of interest?
Disaster Management: All hazards approach
- prevention
- mitigation
- preparedness
- Response
- Recovery
“now do that all at the same time in a place with pre-existing issues like endemic poverty and lack of government stability or infastructure”
Disease Prevention/Mitigation
- minimizing or eradicating the risk before occurrence
- PHAC
- CHNs: advocating for safe environments (reporting unsafe equipment, faulty structures, and the beginning of disease epidemics such as measles or influenza
- Disaster Vulnerability: likelihood disaster will occur and ability of community to avoid or cope with potential disaster
Disaster Preparedness
- Readiness to respond and manage situation/consequences
- developed, implemented, evaluated, revised Emergency plans
- warning system
- Involves education, team planning, mock disaster events (earthquake drill)
- Emergency Measures Organization - develops, coordinates and manages response plans
- Team Members: HCP, Police, Coroners, Firefighters, municipal planners, teachers, universities, business, media, volunteer groups
- Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) - coordinate all federal departments for national security and safety
CHN’s Role: Disaster Preparedness
Review the community’s disaster history
Consider how past disasters have affected health care delivery
Understand how particular organizations fit into the disaster plan
Educate community members about disaster preparedness
Help initiate or update disaster plans
Organize disaster drills
Provide updated records of vulnerable populations within a community.
Triage: initial (response phase) & ongoing (recovery phase) assessments, surveillance
Shelter management (HP, prevention, support)
Disaster recovery
Recovery from physical, psychological & financial damage, clean-up, repair, rebuilding, partnership to evaluate consequences of disaster
- Communicate: accessible and available resources for community recovery
- Community safety: hygiene, immunizations, environment health hazards (physical, chemical, biological, psychological
