Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Climate change is leading to increased disasters across the country, such as those related to the ongoing forest fires. People on dialysis are uniquely vulnerable as those on different forms of dialysis must receive treatments multiple times a week at home or at a dialysis centre. Disruptions can occur because of a lack of supplies, shortage of dialysis personnel, transportation difficulties, or the need to evacuate the region. Without dialysis, these patients may suffer serious and life-threatening complications. While all Canadians on dialysis can be affected, remote and rural communities, racialized populations and Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected. Our team has been involved in the evacuation of Indigenous patients on dialysis and we noted several gaps in preparedness, response, and recovery. Also, we recently conducted a survey of health professionals and noted that the majority did not know of any climate change adaptation or preparedness strategies in place. Thus, we now want to better understand and summarize current policies and procedures in place across Canadian dialysis units and conduct a literature review. We aim to use the data generated to plan a research proposal and research grant. Our long-term goal of generating national guidelines in disaster management and risk reduction for dialysis units in Canada. This will help transform and build resilient health systems.