Resilient Responses to Protect Lung Health in Nunavik
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Department Name: Civil Environmental and Geomatic Eng
Abstract
The potential impact of anthropogenic climate change on lung health is a "threat no less consequential than cigarette smoking". 1
The lung health-related impact of climate change is already being felt in the Inuit Nunangat region of Nunavik, Quebec. The need to mitigate impacts of climate change on lung health is particularly urgent in Nunavik due to the region's existing vulnerabilities with respect to respiratory diseases- vulnerabilities rooted in social determinants of health and historical injustices, and whose impact is amplified by health service infrastructure gaps that represent a major disparity between Nunavik and the rest of Quebec. Our project addresses Theme 2 of the CINUK Call for Research Proposals, "Mitigations & Adaptations for Resilience." The two cross-cutting issues addressed are Inuit community health & well-being, and Resilience and sustainability. Our diverse coalition of researchers and community partners will interweave three streams of research activities, taking place in parallel: (1) community-based participatory research and implementation science methods are applied to design a Community Lung Health Programme with community members addressing lung health through a holistic biosocial paradigm; (2) engineering, microbiology, and epidemiologic methods are leveraged to develop a protocol that the Community Lung Health Programme can use to accurately measure built-environment-related
determinants of lung health, and identify at-risk housing stock; (3) scoping and systematic review methods, and a pilot study, are applied to evaluate emerging technologies for point-of-care diagnosis or monitoring of respiratory diseases to reduce medical travel out of region.
The lung health-related impact of climate change is already being felt in the Inuit Nunangat region of Nunavik, Quebec. The need to mitigate impacts of climate change on lung health is particularly urgent in Nunavik due to the region's existing vulnerabilities with respect to respiratory diseases- vulnerabilities rooted in social determinants of health and historical injustices, and whose impact is amplified by health service infrastructure gaps that represent a major disparity between Nunavik and the rest of Quebec. Our project addresses Theme 2 of the CINUK Call for Research Proposals, "Mitigations & Adaptations for Resilience." The two cross-cutting issues addressed are Inuit community health & well-being, and Resilience and sustainability. Our diverse coalition of researchers and community partners will interweave three streams of research activities, taking place in parallel: (1) community-based participatory research and implementation science methods are applied to design a Community Lung Health Programme with community members addressing lung health through a holistic biosocial paradigm; (2) engineering, microbiology, and epidemiologic methods are leveraged to develop a protocol that the Community Lung Health Programme can use to accurately measure built-environment-related
determinants of lung health, and identify at-risk housing stock; (3) scoping and systematic review methods, and a pilot study, are applied to evaluate emerging technologies for point-of-care diagnosis or monitoring of respiratory diseases to reduce medical travel out of region.
Organisations
Description | Consultation with local partners regarding research presentation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | As part of the project data management plan, a research presentation to be made internally within the University of Laval Microbiology Research Group was delivered to the NHB (ex-KMHB) for comments. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | Invited expert at the Guardian article |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Invited expert at the Guardian to talk about mould growth. Published on 27 Feb 2023: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/feb/27/mouldy-britain-a-foolproof-guide-to-rescuing-your-home-from-damp |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/feb/27/mouldy-britain-a-foolproof-guide-to-rescuing-yo... |
Description | Recruitment training for NHB (ex-KMHB staff) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The project team trained 2 Inuk NHB members of staff who would accompany the home visits to provide NHB outlook and Inuktitut translation if needs be on the specifics of the recruitment process. This included the introduction of and discussions about the information sheet and the consent form, as well as the resident questionnaire. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | Sentinel North Annual Scientific Meeting and Presentation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Sentinel North is a Excellence Centre funded by Canada First Research Excellence Fund (https://sentinellenord.ulaval.ca/en/about-us). It was developed to promote and elevate the northern research. They offer scholarships, training and also, scientific activities. The Objective 2 PhD student, Cindy Dumais, submitted an abstract to the Sentinel North annual scientific meeting for a presentation and scientific exhanges with the relevant research community. The title was "Exposition aux moisissures dans les habitations nordiques, gestion des bâtiments et impacts sur la santé respiratoire" co-authered by Dumais Cindy, Efthymiopoulos Spyros, Veillette Marc, Ahmad Khan Faiz, Yang Wenping, Ouazia Boualem, Aktas Yasemin Didem, Miron Patrick, Watt Larry, Duchaine Caroline |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://sentinelnorth.ulaval.ca/en/scientific-meeting |