My Upcoming APHA Proposal

I'll be presenting at the annual conference for APHA in New Orleans on November 17, 2014.  Here's my prospectus for the roundtable discussion.  I'm pretty excited about sharing my nascent research and would love some thoughts, comments, and constructive critiques. Additionally, if anyone would like to participate in this ongoing research concerning ways health care professional engage climate change please let me know.

Sustainability, climate change, and nursing education: Curriculum for clinical intervention

Monday, November 17, 2014

Hill Taylor, PhD, MS, MA , School of Nursing, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR

Nursing and medical education must address current and future impacts of climate change. This presentation examines responsiveness in nursing curriculum and clinical practice at Oregon Health & Science University. This study’s key objective is to establish protocols and frameworks for managing the health effects of climate change.  The outcome of this study is the formulation of tools that enable nurses to introduce sustainability in multiple contexts.

Public health leaders have underscored the key role of nurses in promoting sustainability in an era of rapid climate change. This presentation showcases a descriptive case study that investigates in-group perspective and practice of nursing students and faculty in Portland, Oregon, arguably one of the most “sustainable” and healthy cities in the United States. These current and future clinicians are developing knowledge and practices predicated on experiences in Portland, Oregon; often, such frames of reference, differ from nursing contexts outside the privileged boundaries of Portland and the United States.

Preliminary qualitative analysis of curriculum, combined with data from semi-structured interviews of nurses, has produced a concept map for use in clinical settings. This map encourages health consultations that incorporate environmental and sustainability education for patients and families navigating health effects of climate change (e.g., air and water quality, nutrition, response to new disease vectors). The presenter demonstrates use of this sustainability concept map as one learning tool to be used by educators in the health professions in efforts to introduce sustainability education into didactic and clinical settings.