Extreme weather events due to the climate crisis impact every aspect of life, including access to care, and add stressors felt by the health system and individual healthcare workers.
Looking ahead to its offerings for 2025, BCCPC’s ECHO program is exploring whether there would be interest in a series about Palliative Care in a Climate Crisis. We’re seeking your feedback on some of our ideas around this theme, and we’re looking for people interested in working with us to bring it to life.
The climate crisis in the healthcare context
The effect of the climate crisis as a healthcare issue is beginning to attract attention in the literature, and a number of helpful healthcare-related resources have been created. (The lists of publications and resources appear at the bottom of this article).
Your input matters!
When it comes to the effects of the climate crisis, we know there is much more to learn, more to share, and more to do, and ECHO’s cooperative all teach, all learn approach means you can shape future offerings.
Currently, we are in the initial, exploratory stages of developing a new climate crisis-related series and we are looking to you for your feedback and reflections on this topic.
To help, please take our quick, two-question survey. The questions are:
1. Are you interested in an ECHO focused on Climate Change and Palliative Care
2. Would you, or someone you know, be interested in being part of an ECHO Climate and Palliative Care series planning team?
To help you with your answers, some of the topics under consideration are:
- Transferring patients during an evacuation order
- Supporting LTC patients with the transition to temporary and then back to LTC facility
- Exacerbated symptoms due to smoke, stress, inconsistent care (because HCPs can’t reach patients)
- Alternative care plans for home care services during a weather event, when in-person visits may not be possible
- How climate events disproportionally negatively impact the health and care of the unhoused, the poor, people of colour and those who already face barriers to palliative care
- Moral distress of staff and the extra pressures they face taking care of others while they could be losing their own home/and or are separated from their family/loved ones
Being part of an ECHO planning team involves being part of a collaborative team of 3-5 people who would help to develop the sessions in this limited series. Meetings would be minimal (2-3) and usually are one (1) hour in length.
If this seems like something you would be interested in, please take a minute to answer the survey or send us an email us at echo@bc-cpc.ca.
Healthcare and the climate crisis in the literature
1. In June 2024, Hospice Palliative Care Ontario noted that “Climate-related extreme weather events are expected to increase demand for hospice and palliative care due to rising respiratory illnesses, heat-related issues, waterborne diseases, and aggravated chronic conditions.” Source Additionally, they completed a study on the impact of Climate Change on Hospice and Palliative Medicine Source. Others have written about how the increase in extreme weather events, forest and wildfires, and other climate-related disasters result in barriers to care.
2. No more Blah Blah Blah: The Impact on Palliative care due to Climate change is now Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
This article looked to identify barriers to and facilitators for accessing palliative care during climate-related natural disasters. Some barriers identified were: a shortage of palliative care providers and a lack of education/ training in disaster preparedness; providers who lacked skills in addressing complex psychosocial needs of patients and families; and the moral suffering of providers. Conversely, a key facilitator was the use of innovative technologies such as telemedicine apps for providing palliative care to hard-to-reach populations.
3. Impact of Climate Change… A scoping and narrative review The Journal of Climate Change and Health
In British Columbia, we have experienced our own share of these events, with the expanding wildfire season, atmospheric rivers, heat domes, and even snowstorms complicating and even disrupting care of palliative patients in hospital, in hospice, in long term and receiving care at home.
Temporary or alternative treatment centers for cancer and renal care have been established, patients in hospital and long-term care facilities evacuated, and home support have adapted time and again when these crises arise.
Our health system and our healthcare workers have been resilient and managed what have previously been once-in-a-generation or century events. Resources are being developed and available based on the experience of those locally, nationally, and internationally, some of which are listed below.
Resources
How to plan for a disaster with a hospice patient in your home
https://www.vitas.com/family-and-caregiver-support/caregiving/providing-care-at-home/how-to-plan-for-a-disaster-with-a-hospice-patient-at-home
Caregiving in Bad Weather
https://www.vitas.com/family-and-caregiver-support/caregiving/providing-care-at-home/winter-storm-coming-check
Emergency Preparedness for Hospice Providers/ National Hospice Palliative Care Organization
https://www.nhpco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Emergency_Preparedness_for_Hospice.pdf
BC Centre for Disease Control
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/prevention-public-health/climate-change-health
Since the Centre started offering ECHO series, we have partnered with health authorities, hospices, care providers, and others interested in using this innovative platform to draw together those interested in palliative care. Since 2020, we have offered 90+ free ECHO sessions to 5000+ registrants. Series topics or areas of focus have included pediatrics, grief and bereavement literacy, Serious Illness Conversations, and more.
If you would like to be on our email list, please contact us echo@bc-cpc.ca. You can also check our webpage for upcoming session information.
We post a number of sessions on our YouTube channel.
We look forward to continuing to work with our hub partners who put some much energy and effort into crafting evidence-based sessions that spark conversation and connection with our participants.
