Low Carbon OT: The role of occupational therapists and other health professionals in climate mitigation?
Earth Day Virtual Workshop
Resources from event workshops (past):
Video 1 - IPCC Synthesis Report Video https://youtu.be/T9CeECpxtx8
Video 2- Indigenous Climate Action https://youtu.be/YooCa3A9c-0
Here is the OTs4Future- Occupational Therapy-Climate Action Network (OT-CAN est. April 23/2023) information we have so far:
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/ots4future
Twitter: @OTs4Future
Instagram: @ots4future
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Session Description:
Climate change is arguably the most significant threat to this planet and humankind. According to the World Health Organization, climate change is the biggest health threat facing humanity (WHO, 2021). In 2015, The Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change posits that “tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the century” (Watts et al., 2015 p. 1861). Although there is a high focus of media attention and coverage on climate change, primarily with a narrative full of doom and gloom (Arnold and Shorenstein, 2018), there is also hope. In 2018, the World Federation of Occupational Therapists published guidelines on how occupational therapists can work towards a more sustainable occupational therapy practice, including guiding principles with reflective questions focused on reducing carbon footprint, but how has this call to action been received?
Occupational therapists and other health professionals are in a position to be part of the solution (Garcia Diaz and Richardson, 2021). With information sharing, small and large group discussion, this exploratory session will explore the role occupational therapists and other health professionals can play to adapt to climate change and to take a leadership role to actively engage in climate action in day-to-day practice.
About the presenters:
Giovanna Boniface (she/her)
Giovanna has been practicing as an occupational therapist for over 25 years. For the past five years, Giovanna has been in a senior leadership role at the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and is currently the Chief Implementation Officer. She has a long-time personal interest in climate action and the environment and has been leading climate action advocacy in the built environment and architecture in her work the RAIC for several years. Her current interest is intersecting climate and sustainability science knowledge from non-health sectors to accelerate climate action in occupational therapy and health care delivery generally.
Graduating from the University of British Columbia occupational therapy program in 1997, she has worked almost exclusively in private practice with expertise in rehabilitation and medical-legal work in the areas of spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury and complex orthopaedics. Giovanna was the provincial occupational therapy consultant for the Workers' Compensation Board of BC (WorksafeBC) for several years and also worked for the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) from 2011-2018 as the Managing Director of CAOT-BC and later as the National Director of Professional Affairs. In these roles with CAOT, she established and nurtured CAOT chapter growth in three provinces and territories, provided visibility and voice to numerous advocacy initiatives, and served as senior occupational therapy advisor regarding strategy and tactics.
In addition to her employment, Giovanna is an active volunteer in the Canadian occupational therapy profession and beyond. She has held many leadership roles at the former BC Society of Occupational Therapists including Director, Secretary and President, as well as President of the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals. She is also a contributor to the published Standards of Practice for Life Care Planners (Third Edition) and in October 2018 was appointed to the International Commission on Health Care Certification’s Certified Life Care Planner Board of Commissioners. She was the President of CAOT from 2020-2022. She currently volunteers with an international organization providing clinical, program development and student supervision services to a rural and remote region in Southern India.
Giovanna holds the rank of Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and considers herself a life-long learner adding achievements of a Masters of Rehabilitation Science (2018) and a Certified Life Care Planner (2012). Giovanna completed a major research project in 2019 as part of the Master of Rehabilitation Science program, in addition, has been involved in several UBC OT student 547 capstone projects over the past 10 years as a clinical advisor.
Jeff Boniface (he/him)
Jeff has over 28 years’ experience as the owner and front-line clinician of a community-based private occupational therapy practice in Greater Vancouver. Currently, he also works as a clinical associate professor and associate academic fieldwork coordinator at the UBC Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy.
Jeff volunteers with the COTBC board and has been a past board vice chair. He currently serves as the Chair on the Patient Relations, Standards and Ethics Committee, and the Chair of the Discipline Committee, and is an active writer on the Case Development Sub-Committee.
Jeff is passionate about environmental issues and believes we are in a position as OTs to be leaders to actively engage in climate action.
Jeff spends his down-time with his wife and two children and volunteering for an international organization providing in-person and remote rehabilitation support to children and adults in a rural community in India.
Giovanna and Jeff acknowledge and give thanks to the Tsleil Waututh Nation whose traditional territory where we live and work.
Both Jeff and Giovanna are involved in a current research project “Perceptions of climate change and action among Canadian occupational therapists” which will be presented at the CAOT National Conference next month in Saskatoon, Canada.
References:
Arnold, E. and Shorenstein, J. (2018, May 29). Doom and Gloom: The Role of the Media in Public Disengagement on Climate Change. https://shorensteincenter.org/media-disengagement-climate-change/
Garcia Diaz, L. V., & Richardson, J. (2021). Occupational therapy’s contributions to combating climate change and lifestyle diseases. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 1-8.
Watts, N., Adger, W. N., Agnolucci, P., Blackstock, J., Byass, P., Cai, W., ... & Costello, A. (2015). Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health. The lancet, 386(10006), 1861-1914. Retrieved from https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1479102/1/Colbourn_final%20commission%20-%20word.pdf
World Health Organization. (2021, October 30). Climate change and health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health