Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment for Waterloo Region, Wellington County, Dufferin County, and the City of Guelph

The project, “Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment for Waterloo Region, Wellington County, Dufferin County, and the City of Guelph,” was funded by Health Canada’s HealthADAPT program until March 2022.

Climate change is a defining public health challenge of the 21st century and is already impacting the health of Canadians. To better understand local vulnerabilities to climate change and health risks under a climate-adjusted future, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health and Region of Waterloo Public Health conducted a Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment to synthesize available data and evidence to help inform adaptation planning with the goal of reducing climate-related health risks and their impacts on populations at greater risk.

The Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment focused on describing patterns of climate-related vulnerability, providing baseline health information, identifying populations at greater risk, and outlining existing adaptive capacity in the local community. It also explored how climate change interacts with the social determinants of health in ways that worsen existing health inequities. The report focused on seven key focus areas: extreme temperatures, ultraviolet radiation, extreme weather, food- and water-borne illnesses, air quality, vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, and mental health impacts due to climate change.

The key goals of the Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment were to:

  • Increase public and partner awareness of the health impacts of climate change in our community
  • Identify, based on local evidence, priority areas to focus adaptive measures for decision makers and partners to strengthen overall resilience of local health systems to respond to the impacts of climate change
  • Collect and share local information that supports creating, and strengthening, policy and programming that reduces health risks and builds resiliency to current climate variability and future climate change in our community

 

The project team consisted of representatives from Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health and Region of Waterloo Public Health along with ICLEI Canada, an external consultant, and Dr. Chris Buse from the University of British Columbia. Data was collected and synthesized for Waterloo Region, Wellington County, Dufferin County, and the City of Guelph. The study area consisted of a mix of urban and rural communities.

Using the information within the Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment, a rapid risk assessment was completed to prioritize health risks at present and into the future. Findings indicated that health risks resulting from extreme heat are and will continue to be a high priority into the future, followed by health risks posed by poor air quality, and then risks posed by flooding. The risk assessment also projected that while risks related to food- and water-borne illnesses, Lyme disease, West Nile virus, and exotic zoonoses may have ranked as moderate to low at present, these risks will increase in likelihood and consequence in the future.

Read the Summary Link to Full Case Study

Understanding and Assessing Impacts

The Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment was guided by several key tools, including the Ontario Climate Change and Health Toolkit, Health Canada’s Climate Change and Health Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment: Workbook for the Canadian Health Sector, as well as the World Health Organization’s Protecting Health from Climate change: Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment Guide. Authors also looked to other Ontario Public Health Units that have completed Vulnerability Assessments for guidance and information, including Peel Public Health, Middlesex-London Health Unit, Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit and York Region.

Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessments generally follow several distinct steps to inform the assessment. These include framing and scoping the assessment by defining geographical regions, policy contexts and health outcomes of interest, and establishing engagement and reporting processes. Vulnerability is then assessed as a function of exposure, physiological sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, which is also reflected in current burden of illness and associated health protection programs. Future impacts are predicted based on climate change projections, and existing as well as potential adaptation measures are identified. The final step is to use the synthesized information to manage and monitor risks through evaluation, program development, and communication strategies. The focus of the Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment for Waterloo Region, Wellington County, Dufferin County, and the City of Guelph centered on the vulnerability assessment component of this framework and included the development of a rapid risk assessment tool to identify priority risk areas.

Identifying Actions

Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessments examine vulnerability through an assessment of exposure, physiological sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, which is also reflected in the current burden of illness and associated health protection programs. When assessing climate change impacts on health, three determinants of vulnerability were considered:

  1. Exposure of populations to climate-related hazards,
  2. Physiological sensitivity of individuals or populations to climate-related hazards, and
  3. Adaptive capacity of individuals, populations and/or systems to cope with climate-related hazards.

The report also considered adaptive actions that already exist in the study area to address climate-related health impacts of concern. These include public health-related actions and community-driven actions.

The assessment was comprised of numerous research methods including literature reviews, surveys, focus groups, and analyses of secondary data. Key methodological tools used to complete this assessment include:

  • Literature review – Targeted literature reviews were conducted for each climate-related health risk identified by the Ontario Climate Change and Health Toolkit. The report used PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Science, limiting results to the past 10 years.
  • Partner engagement – Surveys, focus groups, and workshops were used to collect insights from staff from various organizations including Public Health; emergency management, sustainability and/or climate change departments from municipal and regional governments in the study area; Conservation Authorities, Health Canada, and local academic institutions.
  • Data collection, synthesis and analysis – To track trends in health data over time, where appropriate, Pearson’s R correlation tests were undertaken; other specific methods are outlined for relevant data points in the chapters of the Vulnerability Assessment.

Implementation

The project team developed a Rapid Risk Assessment tool based on frameworks outlined by the World Health Organization, Emergency Management Ontario, and Health Canada. The tool examined risk as a function of likelihood of exposure to a climate-related hazard and the severity of the consequences of exposure based on local burden of illness and information on populations at greater risk. The Rapid Risk Assessment used both quantitative and qualitative data in the assessment and the supplemental Climate Science Report. Evidence and data assessed included baseline climate data, future climate projections, available public health information on burden of disease, and demographic data on known populations at greater risk.

The rapid risk assessment exercise supported identifying key risks to prioritize moving forwards, including health risks posed by extreme heat and outdoor air quality. These findings were used to guide an engagement session held with local partners where locally relevant adaptations interventions were brainstormed focusing on priority risk areas.

The Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment identified climate change related health impacts in Waterloo Region, County of Wellington, County of Dufferin and City of Guelph areas, allowing for current and future planning and target setting. This project has been a collaborative endeavor, with the participation of many partners. With the culmination of the project, public health actors have engaged in knowledge and resource sharing to inform future practices, and regional and municipal governments and service staff are connecting to work towards implement adaptive actions. To this end, an Expert Task Force meeting was coordinated to collect updated information on relevant policies and programming and to brainstorm adaptation strategies that targeted the priority risks identified in the Vulnerability Assessment.

Next Steps

The Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment is a collection of climate change and health data that will be used to inform adaptation planning and policy development, prioritize programming, and identify key indicators to monitor moving forwards. In addition to identifying populations at greater risk, this report summarized key existing adaptive actions within the study area that addressed climate-related health outcomes of concern. It is recognized that existing actions will be important in the next phase of the assessment when identifying new actions or interventions to address climate-related health risks, and opportunities for integrating climate considerations into ongoing initiatives.

There are a number of adaptation actions and initiatives already underway across the study area, many of which are included in the chapters of the report. This assessment will be used to further support the efforts of local partners in the design and implementation of programs that both mitigate climate change and build adaptive capacity to climate change locally by illustrating the health impacts to climate change and importance of addressing these for the health of the community now and into the future.

It has been identified that it will be important to consider opportunities for co-benefits for health when decision-makers in other sectors (such as water, transportation, energy, housing, built environment, agriculture, waste management, and conservation) promote health and health equity by adapting to and mitigating climate change. This presents considerable opportunities for Public Health staff to partner with local partners and bring a health and equity lens to planning activities.

Resources

Digital Case Story – Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph and Region of Waterloo Public Health

Climate change and health webpage – Region of Waterloo Public Health

Climate change and health webpage – Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health

The following knowledge products can be found on both Public Health Unit webpages:

  1. Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment Highlight Report
  2. Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment for Waterloo Region, Wellington County, Dufferin County, and the City of Guelph (Full Report)
  3. Climate Science Report
  4. Climate Change Projections Infographic
  5. Climate Change Impacts on Health Infographic
  6. Extreme Temperatures Infographic
  7. Air Quality Infographic