Grant: Catalyst Grant: CBR in Climate Change Priority Area - Climate Justice

A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society that leads to human, material, economic, and environmental losses. A disaster can be natural, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes, or man-made, such as wars, technological accidents and terrorist attacks. Since 2000, such disasters have led to over 1.7 million deaths and caused over USD3.5 quadrillion dollars in damages globally. People living with kidney diseases are uniquely vulnerable to disasters especially those who are dependent on dialysis. Patients who perform dialysis at home depend on a steady supply and availability of clean water, electricity, and equipment. Patients who receive in-center hemodialysis need these as well as technicians and nurses. In our background work, we noted a lack of national infrastructure in disaster management in Canada; limited literature to guide evidence-based practices; and poor understanding of patient and caregiver perspectives and needs to inform best practices. Thus, we now aim to address these deficiencies. First, we will obtain the input of patients with kidney diseases and their caregivers. Then, we will conduct a gathering of a diverse group of stakeholders who represent the interests of the kidney community to create a list of research and practice priorities. At the end of the grant, we hope to create a continuous cycle of learning and improvement by building system capacities and decreasing vulnerabilities to future natural and human-caused disasters.