Ecohealth Knowledge to Action Research Group (EKTA) - Wildfires and ecosocial determinants of health: Reflections on the experience in the NWT and BC

This webalogue will explore the complex implications of wildfires for the ecosocial determinants of health, exemplified by experiences of recent wildfire events in the NWT and BC. Consideration of wildfire impacts on public health will be explored in relation to environment, social and cultural impacts, with consideration of impacts on communities, wildfire and ecosystems. The session will commence with a presentation by Courtney Howard and Warren Dodd, entitled “Summer of Smoke: A mixed-methods, community-based study investigating the health effects of a prolonged, sever wildfire season on a subarctic population” and will be followed by a panel discussion with members of the Northern Health team involved in the Public Health response to Wildfire Events in BC (Raina Fumerton, Medical Health Officer, Northern Health). Discussion will explore wildfires as an expression of interrelated issues, including the overlay of climate change on other ecosocial determinants of health.