Research public health issues on the \”Climate Change\” or \”Topics and Issues\” pages of the American Public Health Association (APHA) website. Investigate a public health issue related to an environmental issue within the U.S. health care delivery system and examine its effect on a specific population.
Write a 750-1,000-word policy brief that summarizes the issue, explains the effect on the population, and proposes a solution to the issue.
Follow this outline when writing the policy brief:
Describe the policy health issue. Include the following information: (a) what population is affected, (b) at what level does it occur (local, state, or national), and (c) evidence about the issues supported by resources.
Create a problem statement.
Provide suggestions for addressing the health issue caused by the current policy. Describe what steps are required to initiate policy change. Include necessary stakeholders (government officials, administrator) and budget or funding considerations, if applicable.
Discuss the impact on the health care delivery system.
Include three peer-reviewed sources and two other sources to support the policy brief.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Course Resources if you need assistance.
Benchmark Information
Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing
The benchmark assesses the following competencies:
1.4 Participate in health care policy development to influence nursing practice and health care.
Climate Change and Health Issues
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course
Instructor’s Name
Date
Climate Change and Health Issues
Introduction
Climate change is a public health concern in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world. Every country in the world is at least speaking about one or two climate change impacts on people, animals, plants, and soil (Bell et al., 2018). Through policy development, people can manage to prevent or reduce health effects related to climate change. In that regard, this provides a policy brief that identifies an environmental policy health issue, its impacts on people, as well as possible solutions to address the issue.
Description of The Policy Health Issue
The public health issue related to the environmental problem of climate change includes extreme heat events. Extreme heat conditions occur when the weather is much hotter than average for a particular place and time (Lemery et al., 2021). Extreme heat events affect people in most parts of the world including the US, Europe, Asia, India, and Africa. Extreme heat events affect people both in states and nationally. Some parts of the US, such as the North, the West, and Alaska have seen temperatures increase the most. Besides the overall warming, the US is experiencing more extreme health events. Heat waves, prolonged periods of extreme heat, are occurring in major US cities. These are adverse outcomes of climate change and a threat to the health of people (Lemery et al., 2021). Therefore, the Climate Action Now Act was enacted to safeguard public health from the harmful effects of climate change.
Problem Statement
Burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas releases carbon dioxide (CO2), which builds up in the atmosphere and leads to a rise in temperature. Extreme heat disrupts many of the interconnected systems in the environment (Watson et al., 2020). Extreme heat events can be dangerous to health. The events lead to increased hospital admissions for heat-related illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory disorders. Extreme heat events can trigger different heat stress conditions including heatstroke. According to Watson et al. (2020), heatstroke is an adverse health-related disorder, often occurring when one’s body is unable to control high temperatures. It can lead to death or permanent disability if emergency care is not obtained. Since higher temperatures contribute to the build-up of harmful air pollutants, extreme heat events also cause respiratory problems (Bell et al., 2018). Therefore, solutions are needed to prevent or reduce the impact of extreme heat events on individuals.
Suggestions for Addressing the Health Issue
As the national government establishes measures to curb climate change, it is also necessary to narrow down to extreme health events and ensure the communities take proper actions to prepare for the events (Lemery et al., 2021). The government should find better ways of implementing various policy recommendations to address the climate change health issue. The first recommendation is to identify vulnerable populations and establish heat preparedness plans that can benefit all residents such as opening cooling centers during periods of extreme heat (Lemery et al., 2021). The government should encourage the installation of cool pavements and cool and green roofs to reduce the urban heat island effect.
Another recommendation includes planting more trees to cool air through evapotranspiration and to provide shade for people (Lemery et al., 2021). Heatwave early warning systems will protect people by communicating the possibility of the incident and suggesting protective actions. Additionally, heat alerts can act as triggers for relevant authorities or people in cities and counties to take preventive measures, such as providing air conditioners or opening cooling centers. Urban forests, including street trees and wooded areas, can mitigate urban heat islands, reducing local air temperatures by up to 9°F (Lemery et al., 2021). All these recommendations or suggestions need to be taken into consideration by the government and other interested entities.
Steps Needed to Initiate Policy Change
Policy development is the best way of improving the health outcomes of populations. Nursing and public health professionals are at the forefront of the development of health policy. Proper steps are required to ensure effective policy change. The first step in policy change is problem identification (CDC, 2022). The stakeholders collect data related to temperature increases to ensure the problem exists. The second step is policy analysis, whereby various policy options are weighed and more relevant ones are selected for implementation. Step three involves strategy and policy development. It is at this point that the policy draft is produced. Stakeholders such as governments, health agencies, and other parties of interest are engaged at this point. The fourth step is policy enactment through internal or external procedures depending on the type of policy. This policy would be enacted through the federal legislatures (CDC, 2022). Last but not least is policy implementation, where now it is translated to action.
Impacts of Health Care Delivery System
Extreme heat has detrimental health effects on individuals including heatstroke, respiratory illnesses, as well as cardiovascular diseases. Besides biological or physiological effects, extreme heat and heatwaves also affect individuals’ daily outdoor activities such as physical exercise leading to more health complications (Bell et al., 2018). Additionally, heatstroke is a deadly medical condition leading to emergency room visits, admissions, and even death. as a result of climate change and extreme heat events, healthcare experiences increased rates of emergency room visits, hospitalization, mortality and disability, and increased costs of health care (Watson et al., 2020). Therefore, the health issue has negative effects on healthcare delivery systems.
Conclusion
Climate change is a major problem around the world. Climate change leads to extreme heat among other problems that have detrimental impacts on the health of individuals. Extreme heat events may cause different illnesses related to the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, and heatstroke. Proper suggestions have been provided to address the health issue.
References
Bell, J. E., Brown, C. L., Conlon, K., Herring, S., Kunkel, K. E., Lawrimore, J., … & Uejio, C. (2018). Changes in extreme events and the potential impacts on human health. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 68(4), 265-287. https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2017.1401017
CDC. (2022). CDC Policy Process. https://www.cdc.gov/policy/analysis/process/index.html
Lemery, J., In Knowlton, K., & In Sorensen, C. (2021). Global climate change and human health: From science to practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Watson, K. E., Gardiner, K. M., & Singleton, J. A. (2020). The impact of extreme heat events on hospital admissions to the Royal Hobart Hospital. Journal of Public Health, 42(2), 333-339. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaa132