TY - JOUR
T1 - The intersection of pediatrics, climate change, and structural racism
T2 - Ensuring health equity through climate justice
AU - Gutschow, Benjamin
AU - Gray, Brendan
AU - Ragavan, Maya I.
AU - Sheffield, Perry E.
AU - Philipsborn, Rebecca Pass
AU - Jee, Sandra H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Understanding and intervening at the intersection of climate change and child health disparities require pediatric providers to broaden their competency with structural determinants of health – even in the clinic. The environmental effects of climate change at the community level intersect in complex ways with structural racism and social influences of health. Climate injustice is further evident in policies and practices that disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color through exposure to harmful pollutants from industrial plants, heavy vehicular traffic, and flooding waterways, as well as to harm from degraded civic infrastructure such as leaking water lines and unsafe bridges. To support child health, pediatric providers must recognize the environmental health harms posed to children and multiplied by climate change as well as identify opportunities to center the voices of families and communities to dismantle these inequities. In this article, three case examples demonstrate the links between structural racism, climate change and child health. We then use a healing centered engagement approach to offer specific suggestions for how pediatric providers can actively promote health and resilience, advocate for patient needs, and contribute to efforts to change structural racism in existing practices and institutions.
AB - Understanding and intervening at the intersection of climate change and child health disparities require pediatric providers to broaden their competency with structural determinants of health – even in the clinic. The environmental effects of climate change at the community level intersect in complex ways with structural racism and social influences of health. Climate injustice is further evident in policies and practices that disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color through exposure to harmful pollutants from industrial plants, heavy vehicular traffic, and flooding waterways, as well as to harm from degraded civic infrastructure such as leaking water lines and unsafe bridges. To support child health, pediatric providers must recognize the environmental health harms posed to children and multiplied by climate change as well as identify opportunities to center the voices of families and communities to dismantle these inequities. In this article, three case examples demonstrate the links between structural racism, climate change and child health. We then use a healing centered engagement approach to offer specific suggestions for how pediatric providers can actively promote health and resilience, advocate for patient needs, and contribute to efforts to change structural racism in existing practices and institutions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113095400&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cppeds.2021.101028
DO - 10.1016/j.cppeds.2021.101028
M3 - Article
C2 - 34238692
AN - SCOPUS:85113095400
SN - 1538-5442
VL - 51
JO - Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care
JF - Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care
IS - 6
M1 - 101028
ER -