Upcoming Webinars

---

Public health practices to support psychosocial and mental health response and recovery post-flooding

March 30, 2023 @ 12 - 1pm Pacific Time (PT)

Cost: FREE

 Maxine Myre, PhD and Nicole Glenn, PhD
PolicyWise

► REGISTER HERE

Floods have a significant and long-term impact on community mental health and psychosocial well-being. Post-flooding psychosocial and mental health recovery requires public health disaster responders to work alongside affected communities. During this webinar, Maxine Myre and Nicole Glenn from PolicyWise for Children & Families will present an overview of the experiences, challenges, and priorities of post-flooding community recovery, as well as describe public health practices that can be adapted and applied to communities across Canada. Then, they will facilitate a panel discussion with Canadian experts about how the recommended practices are relevant and can be adapted to different contexts. Panelist will include professionals in government and non-profit leadership working in disaster psychosocial and mental health recovery and response.

PolicyWise for Children and Families is an Alberta-based not-for-profit, charitable organization. We have 20 years’ experience mobilizing knowledge to shape policies, practices, and services in ways that benefit children, youth, families, and communities. During this time, PolicyWise has developed and implemented complex, collaborative projects in partnership with all levels of government, nonprofit organizations, community, and private sector organizations. Central to our approach is consideration of the structural barriers that marginalized groups face and the actions that can be taken to alleviate those conditions so that everyone has an opportunity to thrive.

Maxine Myre, PhD, is a Senior Research and Policy Associate with PolicyWise. She leads several projects related to child, family, and community well-being with a focus on community engagement, knowledge mobilization, and health equity.

Nicole Glenn, PhD, is a Research & Policy Manager with PolicyWise where she stewards knowledge mobilization and community-engaged applied public health and social sector research and evaluation. She brings a critical equity lens to all her work.

---

Adaptation planning for sea level rise –
Understanding the public health implications

April 12, 2023 @ 11am - 12pm Pacific Time (PT)

Cost: FREE

 Tracey Wade
RPP, MCIP, CLIMAtlantic

► REGISTER HERE

The health impacts of sea level rise have not been well researched in Canada or elsewhere. The objective of this project was to improve understanding of the public health impacts associated with sea level rise, and to demonstrate how public-health-driven actions at the community level can be integrated into adaptation plans to mitigate these impacts. Report 1 of the four-part series identified geographic areas of Canada’s coastline that are most exposed to impacts from sea level rise. Report 2 established the potential health impacts resulting from exposure to sea level rise based on literature.  Report 3 outlined results of a scan of community-based planning documents to determine if and how sea level rise and health were addressed. Given the lack of integration of public health considerations generally in climate change adaptation planning, or specifically related to sea level rise, Report 4  identified ways to integrate an understanding of health impacts related to sea level rise in climate change adaptation planning and implementation by communities and provinces/territories. This webinar will summarize the findings of the series and identify how community planners and public health officials can work together to improve consideration of health in climate adaptation planning for coastal communities in Canada. 
 

Tracey Wade has more than 20 years of professional planning experience in primarily rural communities in Atlantic Canada.  She has managed a wide range of planning exercises in areas of climate change, recreation, land use, health, and sustainability. Most recently, she has led projects on the health impacts of climate change, provincial park planning, and land use plan development. Specifically related to climate change, Tracey has been involved in preparing Climate Change Action Plans locally, training professional planners in the Atlantic region about climate change adaptation planning, and has participated in a range of climate-related policy work from the development of flood protection policy to assessing community vulnerability and health impacts.  Tracey was the project lead for the New Brunswick HealthADAPT project and was trained as a Climate Reality Leader in 2020.

---

An old issue on the front burner:
Health and environmental impacts of gas stoves

April 19, 2023 @ 12 - 1pm Pacific Time (PT)

Cost: FREE

 Michael Brauer, PhD
School of Population and Public Health, The University of British Columbia;
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington

► REGISTER HERE

Recent media and consumer interest has drawn attention to health and environmental impacts of gas cooking stoves. This attention has coincided with several municipalities implementing or considering bans on natural gas appliances in newly constructed buildings. This presentation will disentangle these recent developments by providing overview of the state of evidence linking gas stove use with incident asthma, discuss the role of nitrogen dioxide air pollution and its health impacts and then summarize climate impacts related to gas appliance use in residential environments.

Michael Brauer is a Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at The University of British Columbia and a Principal Research Scientist and Affiliate Professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, where he leads the Environmental, Occupational and Dietary Risk Factors team for the Global Burden of Disease.  His research focuses on linkages between the built environment and human health, with specific interest in the global health impacts of air pollution, the relationships between multiple exposures mediated by urban form and population health, and health impacts of a changing climate. He has participated in monitoring and epidemiological studies throughout the world and served on numerous committees, including those advising the World Health Organization, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the World Heart Federation, the US National Academies, the Royal Society of Canada, the International Joint Commission and governments in North America and Asia.  His contributions to environmental health have been recognized by a number of career achievement and publication awards.