Grant: Applied Public Health Chair - LOI

In general the proposed research program broadly focuses on the health and well being of the healthcare workforce; and in particular, 1. the assessment of the healthcare work environment for hazardous exposures and circumstances; followed by, 2. the design, implementation and evaluation of measures to control these occupational hazards. To illustrate, healthcare workers handle chemotherapy medications that are widely used to treat cancers and other immune diseases. These drugs are inherently hazardous and are capable of causing cancer, birth defects, and mutations in genes. Previous work has shown that healthcare facilities are contaminated and healthcare workers themselves continue to be exposed despite current best practices. With our aging population and increasing use chemotherapeutic drugs, the risk of exposure among healthcare workers is also increasing. Since multiple drugs or combinations are common, of concern is the effect of all of these on the health of healthcare workers. This research will gather evidence to improve our knowledge regarding how these drugs contaminate surfaces in hospitals and how this contamination spreads. We will use a new approach to address this problem by looking in detail at the flow of drugs, the people who handle them and the environment in which they work, all at the same time. We are describing this as the Antineoplastic Drug Contamination Network. The outcome of this research will identify methods that facility administrators in Canada can use to improve the safety of their workforce.