The mental health and well-being effects of wildfire smoke: a scoping review.

Background: Smoke from wildfires is a growing public health risk due to the enormous amount of smoke-related pollution that is produced and can travel thousands of kilometers from its source. While many studies have documented the physical health harms of wildfire smoke, less is known about the effects on mental health and well-being. Understanding the effects of wildfire smoke on mental health and well-being is crucial as the world enters a time in which wildfire smoke events become more frequent and severe.

Exploring Climate Emotions in Canada's Provincial North.

The mental and emotional dimensions of climate change are increasingly concerning as extreme events become more frequent and severe, ecosystem destruction advances, and people become more aware of climate impacts and injustices. Research on climate emotions has rapidly advanced over the last decade with growing evidence illustrating that climate emotions can impact health, shape climate action, and ought to be considered in climate change communication, education, and engagement. This paper explores, describes, and discusses climate emotions in the context of Canada's Provincial North: a vast region characterized by a vulnerability to climate change, remoteness, political marginalization, diverse Indigenous populations, and economies/livelihoods tied to resource extraction.

"Land is everything, land is us": Exploring the connections between climate change, land, and health in Fort William First Nation.

The myriad and cumulative impacts of climate change on land, communities, and health are increasingly evident worldwide. Throughout 2019 and 2020, Fort William First Nation and researchers at Lakehead University conducted a project to document and understand connections among climate change, land, and health from the perspective of Elders, knowledge keepers, and community members with close ties to the land. Fort William First Nation is an Anishinaabe community located on the shores of Lake Superior/Kitchigami in Northern Ontario and within Robinson-Superior Treaty territory.

Deforestation and Household- and Individual-Level Double Burden of Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Introduction: Although forests and forest-based ecosystems have been shown to influence health and sustainable diets, there is limited evidence on how deforestation affects the current nutrition transition and the double burden of malnutrition. We examined the relationship between deforestation and the individual- and household-level double burden of malnutrition in 15 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Materials And Methods: We combined data from geolocated Demographic and Health Surveys and the Global Forest Change dataset.

Mapping the Solastalgia Literature: A Scoping Review Study.

Solastalgia is a relatively new concept for understanding the links between human and ecosystem health, specifically, the cumulative impacts of climatic and environmental change on mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Given the speed and scale of climate change alongside biodiversity loss, pollution, deforestation, unbridled resource extraction, and other environmental challenges, more and more people will experience solastalgia. This study reviewed 15 years of scholarly literature on solastalgia using a scoping review process.

Geographies of Sexual Assault: A Spatial Analyses to Identify Neighborhoods Affected by Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

Emergency departments are a common access point for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), but very little is known about where survivors live and the neighborhoods they return to. The objectives of this study were to describe the patient population that present for a sexual or partner-based assault and explore the geographic distribution of cases across the Ottawa-Gatineau area. Data for this study were extracted from the Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Program (SAPACP) case registry (January 1 to December 31, 2015) at The Ottawa Hospital.

Deforestation and child diet diversity: A geospatial analysis of 15 Sub-Saharan African countries.

Deforestation worldwide could have important consequences for diet quality and human nutrition given the numerous ecosystem services that are provided by forests and biodiverse landscapes. Yet, empirical research assessing the links between deforestation and diets is lacking. In this study, we examined the association between deforestation and diet diversity among children using geolocated Demographic and Health Survey data for 33,777 children across 15 countries of sub-Saharan Africa coupled with remotely-sensed data on forest cover loss.

Public health guide to field developments linking ecosystems, environments and health in the Anthropocene.

The impacts of global environmental change have precipitated numerous approaches that connect the health of ecosystems, non-human organisms and humans. However, the proliferation of approaches can lead to confusion due to overlaps in terminology, ideas and foci. Recognising the need for clarity, this paper provides a guide to seven field developments in environmental public health research and practice: occupational and environmental health; political ecology of health; environmental justice; ecohealth; One Health; ecological public health; and planetary health.

A Novel Method for Verifying War Mortality while Estimating Iraqi Deaths for the Iran-Iraq War through Operation Desert Storm (1980-1993).

Objectives: We estimated war-related Iraqi mortality for the period 1980 through 1993.

Method: To test our hypothesis that deaths reported by siblings (even dating back several decades) would correspond with war events, we compared sibling mortality reports with the frequency of independent news reports about violent historic events. We used data from a survey of 4,287 adults in 2000 Iraqi households conducted in 2011.

Building Interdisciplinary Research Capacity: a Key Challenge for Ecological Approaches in Public Health.

The shortcomings of public health research informed by reductionist and fragmented biomedical approaches and the emergence of wicked problems are fueling a renewed interest in ecological approaches in public health. Despite the central role of interdisciplinarity in the context of ecological approaches in public health research, inadequate attention has been given to the specific challenge of doing interdisciplinary research in practice. As a result, important knowledge gaps exist with regards to the practice of interdisciplinary research.

Boiling over: A Descriptive Analysis of Drinking Water Advisories in First Nations Communities in Ontario, Canada.

Access to safe and reliable drinking water is commonplace for most Canadians. However, the right to safe and reliable drinking water is denied to many First Nations peoples across the country, highlighting a priority public health and environmental justice issue in Canada. This paper describes trends and characteristics of drinking water advisories, used as a proxy for reliable access to safe drinking water, among First Nations communities in the province of Ontario.

Urbanicity Gradients Are Associated with the Household- and Individual-Level Double Burden of Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: The nutrition transition is advancing throughout sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, the nutritional risk across urbanicity gradients associated with this transition is not clear.

Objectives: We aimed to determine 1) the extent to which overweight and anemia in women of childbearing age (WCBA) and stunting in preschool-age children (PSC) are spatially correlated within countries of SSA; and 2) the association of urbanicity with the individual-level nutritional double burden (i.

Road traffic injuries in Baghdad from 2003 to 2014: results of a randomised household cluster survey.

Introduction: Around 50 million people are killed or left disabled on the world's roads each year; most are in middle-income cities. In addition to this background risk, Baghdad has been plagued by decades of insecurity that undermine injury prevention strategies. This study aimed to determine death and disability and household consequences of road traffic injuries (RTIs) in postinvasion Baghdad.

Burns in Baghdad from 2003 to 2014: Results of a randomized household cluster survey.

Purpose: Civilians living amid conflict are at high-risk of burns. However, the epidemiology of burns among this vulnerable group is poorly understood, yet vital for health policy and relief planning. To address this gap, we aimed to determine the death and disability, healthcare needs and household financial consequences of burns in post-invasion Baghdad.

Injuries, Death, and Disability Associated with 11 Years of Conflict in Baghdad, Iraq: A Randomized Household Cluster Survey.

Background: The objective of this study was to characterize injuries, deaths, and disabilities arising during 11 years of conflict in Baghdad.

Methods: Using satellite imagery and administrative population estimated size for Baghdad, 30 clusters were selected, proportionate to population size estimates. Interviews were conducted during April and May 2014 in 900 households containing 5148 persons.

A novel integration of online and flipped classroom instructional models in public health higher education.

Background: In 2013, a cohort of public health students participated in a 'flipped' Environmental and Occupational Health course. Content for the course was delivered through NextGenU.org and active learning activities were carried out during in-class time.

Seasonal variation of acute gastro-intestinal illness by hydroclimatic regime and drinking water source: a retrospective population-based study.

Acute gastro-intestinal illness (AGI) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide and an important public health problem. Despite the fact that AGI is currently responsible for a huge burden of disease throughout the world, important knowledge gaps exist in terms of its epidemiology. Specifically, an understanding of seasonality and those factors driving seasonal variation remain elusive.

Mortality in Iraq associated with the 2003-2011 war and occupation: findings from a national cluster sample survey by the university collaborative Iraq Mortality Study.

Background: Previous estimates of mortality in Iraq attributable to the 2003 invasion have been heterogeneous and controversial, and none were produced after 2006. The purpose of this research was to estimate direct and indirect deaths attributable to the war in Iraq between 2003 and 2011.

Methods And Findings: We conducted a survey of 2,000 randomly selected households throughout Iraq, using a two-stage cluster sampling method to ensure the sample of households was nationally representative.

Where are the NGOs and why? The distribution of health and development NGOs in Bolivia.

Background: The presence and influence of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the landscape of global health and development have dramatically increased over the past several decades. The distribution of NGO activity and the ways in which contextual factors influence the distribution of NGO activity across geographies merit study. This paper explores the distribution of NGO activity, using Bolivia as a case study, and identifies local factors that are related to the distribution of NGO activity across municipalities in Bolivia.

Heavy agricultural workloads and low crop diversity are strong barriers to improving child feeding practices in the Bolivian Andes.

Most nutrition initiatives to date aimed at improving infant and young child feeding (IYCF) have emphasized addressing knowledge gaps through behavior change messaging with less focus on addressing the underlying environmental barriers that may shape these behaviors. This research integrates an analysis of longitudinal dietary data with qualitative data on barriers to improved child feeding to identify the nature and extent of the barriers caregivers face to improving IYCF practices in a farming region of the Bolivian Andes, and to determine the relative influence of these barriers on caregivers' abilities to improve IYCF practices. Sixty-nine caregivers were selected from a sample of 331 households that participated in a longitudinal survey assessing changes in IYCF practices among caregivers with children aged 0-36 months from March 2009 to March 2010.

Health system determinants of infant, child and maternal mortality: A cross-sectional study of UN member countries.

Objective: Few studies have examined the link between health system strength and important public health outcomes across nations. We examined the association between health system indicators and mortality rates.

Methods: We used mixed effects linear regression models to investigate the strength of association between outcome and explanatory variables, while accounting for geographic clustering of countries.