Grant: Project Grant

People who experience incarceration in Canada have poor population health status, and face structural and systemic barriers to health in the community and in custody. Climate change presents specific risks for people in correctional facilities. We lack evidence in Canada, however, regarding climate change-related risks, harms, and risk mitigation strategies for people who are incarcerated. In this project, first, we will conduct quantitative analyses to describe adverse health impacts of heat exposure for people who experience incarceration using correctional and health administrative data linked to environmental exposure data. Second, we will describe climate change-related environmental exposures in the communities in which correctional facilities are located across Canada. Third, we will use knowledge exchange sessions to adapt current guidance on strategies to mitigate the risks associated with these environmental exposures for people in prison settings, leveraging the knowledge and perspectives of people with lived experience of incarceration, correctional policymakers and staff, and others with relevant expertise. We will share findings publicly through our institutional websites and publications, and we will disseminate tailored project findings to correctional authorities and other organizations. Mobilizing knowledge regarding climate change-related exposures and harms and strategies to mitigate risks could support and inform work to address and respond to risks, with potential benefits for population health.