Communities need to be prepared for health impacts related to climate change and extreme events. CLIMAS researchers established a long-term partnership with the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to provide expertise on several climate-related health risks. This partnership has resulted in several important impacts, the first of which was the use of CLIMAS research in Arizona’s Climate and Health Adaptation Plan (2017) and its addendum (2018).
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, health departments across Arizona had to redirect most of their effort toward disease mitigation. The established partnership between CLIMAS and the ADHS allowed for heat resilience work to move forward while counties focused on the pandemic. CLIMAS researchers assessed the use of cooling centers and monitored heat temperatures at outdoor testing and vaccination sites. Results and suggestions were shared with county health departments to keep health workers and the public safe from heat exposure. Finally, in response to a 2020 heat wave, CLIMAS researchers created Maps of Cooling Centers in Tucson to help people to find cooling stations, which were used by Pima Association of Governments, Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness, and Chicanos Por La Causa.
Partners: Arizona Department of Health Services
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Identifying Gaps Stakeholder Needs Regarding the Climate-Health Connection
As part of the Climate-Ready States and Cities Initiative in 2009, the CDC engaged 16 states and two large cities to implement a five-step program Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE). The CDC is now supporting the monitoring and evaluation of the efforts developed under BRACE: Climate and Health Adaptation Monitoring Program (CHAMP). To support these monitoring and evaluation efforts, this project seeks to quantify the scope of BRACE initiatives through a national survey, which will be distributed in Summer 2020. ADHS has helped design this survey. Results will be reported to ADHS and the CDC. CLIMAS investigators are also working to map the Arizona network of climate/health advocates and to identify knowledge gaps about climate and health connections. This information is informing adaptation and mitigation plans for the state of Arizona as well as Pinal and Maricopa County’s Implementation and Monitoring Strategies.
Project Partners: Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona State University
Additional Funders: Arizona Department of Health Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Climate and Health Adaptation Monitoring Program (CHAMP): Identifying gaps in stakeholder needs regarding the climate-health connection
As part of the Climate-Ready States and Cities Initiative, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) engaged 16 states and two large cities to implement a five-step program called Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) in 2009. The program aimed to help communities prepare for the health effects of climate change. As that project ends, the CDC is now supporting the monitoring and evaluation of the efforts developed under BRACE in a new effort called the Climate and Health Adaptation Monitoring Program (CHAMP). To support these monitoring and evaluation efforts, investigators are working to map the Arizona network of climate/health advocates, to identify gaps stakeholders need regarding the climate-health connection, and to develop strategies to better support these efforts.
Additional Funders: Arizona Department of Health Services