By Joleen Lonigan
Headlines about extreme weather are a regular occurrence on the national and international news. We’ve seen the devastating impacts of fire engulfing communities, water flooding streets and collapsing homes, earthquakes destroying cities, and hurricanes ripping through coast lines. These occurrences capture our attention, and we question when and where the next disaster will occur. We’re often left feeling paralyzed and unsure of how a single individual can have an impact on these events.
I’ve chosen to be involved and have taken a path of activism in understanding the “why?” behind the increase and intensity of extreme weather occurrences, as well as recognizing that the changing environmental health of our communities is real and has consequences. As both a healthcare leader and a nurse, I’m interested in expanding my influence and to promote impactful environmental change on whatever stage I can best be heard. I am someone who cares about the state of our existence and the declining health of the environment that we all wake-up to everyday. Yes, it takes a village, but more and more, that same village is experiencing repeat climate-changing events resulting in loss of life and substantial economic setback.
As a concerned individual for a sustainable and positive environmental future, I recognize that our healthcare industry is a major contributor to medical waste and pollutants, including greenhouse gases, where 10% of the US emissions are derived. Further, according to the World Health Organization, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in accumulated medical waste that increased plastic pollution in our oceans by 10-times. These are both alarming and very real facts.
In my experience, there are healthcare leaders that are ready to take active roles in the prevention, mitigation, and advocacy of climate change and the promotion of proper waste disposal management. I’ve participated in various forums throughout California Discussing climate change initiatives, sustainability and environmental health. I’m pleased to find colleagues who are interested and want to know more about how they can participate in the advocacy for positive environmental changes. Frequently, colleagues share that this is an issue they value, but just don’t know how to get involved. The entire medical community, including Nurses and healthcare practitioners are seeing firsthand impacts to their patient population and want to explore solutions outside of symptom and disease management.
Environmental Health: CAHL Explores Our Roles
On May 16, 2023, I moderated a CAHL F2F virtual event with the topic identified as “Improving the Health Status of Your Community: Climate Change & Population Health.”. We had an impressive panel that included Bruce Bekkar, M.D., a women’s health physician and international keynote speaker engaged with the climate crisis; Ije-Enu “Ije” Udeze Nwosu, MBA, a Vice President for Performance Impact which includes environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy; and Barbara Sattler RN, PhD, FAAN, and an international leader in environmental health and nursing. This virtual event explored the healthcare inequities through an environmental health lens. We discussed how healthcare leaders can impact change within our organizations, and the physical and mental health issues tied to our environmental health.
Additional topics of discussions during the event included recognition that globally, people that contribute the greatest to climate change are impacted the least while those that contribute the least are impacted the most. Dr. Bekkar shared his research on risk factors for pregnant women and the unborn infant related to heat and air pollution. Dr. Bekkar’s research tied these two environmental factors to adverse birth outcomes that included premature births, low birth weight and elevated stillbirth rates.
Dr. Barbara Sattler outlined her experience as a Katrina relief worker in 2005 and her expanding understanding on vulnerable patient impacts, She shared, “race and poverty triumph (universally) in vulnerabilities,” but within communities’ additional vulnerabilities include, “people with developmental delays, people with mobility barriers, geographical isolation and language barriers.”
Ije-Enu Udeze Nwosa expressed, “there are communities not surviving (climate change).” This poses the ethical questions of how climate change is exacerbating the health inequities of our community and populations of the poor, people of color, pregnant women, children, and the elderly. The panelist also discussed the trending impacts in our youth, who are expressing increasing anxiety about climate change and environmental health (identified in the mental health community as Eco-Anxiety). From a youth perspective, they’re concerned about a growing sense of betrayal by the prior generations and their governments for lack of action, with the fear that their lives will have quality of life impacts with less opportunity than their parents have.
The panelists offered suggestions on how to activate your organization, community, and yourself. Within your organization, develop partnerships to engage and to amplify the work by working together. By forming coalitions, the healthcare industry can influence manufacturers to reduce waste during the production of medical equipment and supplies. In communities, engage with professional organizations as well as faith-based organizations to build resiliency and to mitigate existing environmental threats. Advocacy often starts as a personal journey and is discussed as an activation tactic, offering training resources such as the American Lung Association and Advocacy 350. Activism within our organization, community and ourselves was also discussed in the context of climate change & environmental health. Ije-Enu Udeze Nwosa expanded on the transformational framework of environmental, social and governance (ESG) that guides business decisions and investments to align with ethical practices that benefit the local and global community alike.
Moderating this session expanded my commitment to Climate Change and Environmental Health advocacy. In my organization, I contacted our sustainability leadership and sought out partnerships to align with strategic goals within our mission, vision and values.. One of our steps in collaboration is establishing a Clinical Sustainability & Waste Reduction Committee to evaluate our equipment and supplies and its appropriate disposal. Upon contacting a group of interdisciplinary leaders in a matter of a few days, we had a full interdisciplinary team ready to work together. I’m expanding my connections in the larger community to develop understanding of current environmental legislation and environmental policy. It truly does take a village to effectuate necessary and life-altering changes.
As Healthcare Leaders we have a role and responsibility with waste reduction, mitigation of greenhouse emissions and decreasing healthcare inequities. I invite you to join the conversation!
Links to Additional Resources
