Suellen Breakey

Bio: Suellen Breakey is an academic researcher from MGH Institute of Health Professions. The author has contributed to research in topics: Climate justice & Climate change. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 13 publications receiving 119 citations.

Climate Change, Climate Justice, and Environmental Health: Implications for the Nursing Profession.

Abstract: Purpose Climate change is an emerging challenge linked to negative outcomes for the environment and human health. Since the 1960s, there has been a growing recognition of the need to address climate change and the impact of greenhouse gas emissions implicated in the warming of our planet. There are also deleterious health outcomes linked to complex climate changes that are emerging in the 21st century. This article addresses the social justice issues associated with climate change and human health and discussion of climate justice. Organizing construct Discussion paper. Methods A literature search of electronic databases was conducted for articles, texts, and documents related to climate change, climate justice, and human health. Findings The literature suggests that those who contribute least to global warming are those who will disproportionately be affected by the negative health outcomes of climate change. The concept of climate justice and the role of the Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice are discussed within a framework of nursing's professional responsibility and the importance of social justice for the world's people. The nursing profession must take a leadership role in engaging in policy and advocacy discussions in addressing the looming problems associated with climate change. Conclusions Nursing organizations have adopted resolutions and engaged in leadership roles to address climate change at the local, regional, national, and global level. It is essential that nurses embrace concepts related to social justice and engage in the policy debate regarding the deleterious effects on human health related to global warming and climate change. Nursing's commitment to social justice offers an opportunity to offer significant global leadership in addressing the health implications related to climate change. Clinical relevance Recognizing the negative impacts of climate change on well-being and the underlying socioeconomic reasons for their disproportionate and inequitable distribution can expand and optimize the profession's role in education, practice, research, and policy-making efforts to address climate change.

Integrating Climate Change Topics Into Nursing Curricula.

Abstract: BACKGROUND Health professionals have a key role in addressing the health impacts of climate change at several levels: direct patient care, client and community education, health professions education, and through advocacy and health policy development. METHOD Recognizing that nurses are the first line in health education, nursing faculty at the MGH Institute of Health Professions developed the first nurse-led Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice and Health (CCCCJH). RESULTS A steering committee of nurse climate change scholars and interested faculty developed a mission, vision, core values, and a strategic plan for the CCCCJH and are working on integrating climate change topics into nursing curricula at all levels. CONCLUSION Nurses are in the ideal position to lead the way to increase awareness among health professionals and students about the health impacts of climate change. Curricular integration of climate change topics at all levels will prepare our students to meet the needs and challenges of the future. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(6):364-368.].

The intersection of climate change with the era of COVID-19.

Abstract: The purpose of this integrative review is to examine recent literature on the intersection of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 novel coronavirus) and climate change that will lead to a greater understanding of the complexities of the urgent pandemic linked with the emerging climate crisis. A literature search for peer-reviewed, English language, literature published since the pandemic emerged was conducted using Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, and the Cochrane Library. The final sample yielded a total of 22 commentaries, editorials, discussion papers, and a research study that explicitly addressed the intersection of COVID-19 and climate change. Sixty articles emerged in the initial review of the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change with the final yield of 22 articles deemed valid for inclusion after full text review. With the emergence of COVID-19 and scholarly discourse that addresses the intersection of the pandemic with climate change, key issues emerged that intersect with policy /advocacy, social justice, and nursing's public health role in clinical practice, education, policy/advocacy, and research/scholarship. Five themes that emerged included the role of public health in COVID-19 and climate change efforts; global approach addressing human-environment issues; intersection of COVID-19 and climate change from a community and global perspective; impacts of COVID-19, climate change and the environment and professional associations and specialty organizations' views and responsibilities with a lens on COVID-19 and climate change. Despite the importance of addressing racial inequities as well as systemic and structural racism that impacts those most affected by climate change and pandemics such as COVID-19, no literature addressed this topic. Public health nursing has a critical role in addressing climate change and the pandemic response to COVID 19 in the 21st century.

Global Health Nursing in the 21st Century

Abstract: This text is designed specifically for nurses and nursing students who have an interest in global health as a specialty, regardless of experience or education level. It reflects both the unique contributions of the nursing profession, and of other disciplines, which is in keeping with the Editors' perspective on how to bring about lasting change. The text views global health through a nursing lens, but maintains this awareness and appreciation of interprofessionalism throughout. The Editors and Contributors have firsthand experience of the complex dynamics in achieving global health, and bring a wealth of knowledge to this important field, and one that has grown as a course and specialty. The text depicts the worldwide expansion of nursing partnerships between resource-rich and resource-limited countries, and discusses the challenges, obstacles, and provides cases and guidance on how to achieve global health. It will appeal to all nurses, from the student nurse embarking on a global health experience, to the more experienced global health nurse who is offering professional nursing expertise around the world. The text responds to a recent WHO mandate seeking the input of nurses and midwives as part of an interprofessional team of key strategists for facilitating global health. The Lancet Report is also an important document used throughout the text, and an interview with Dr. Julio Frenk, author of that report, is included. Social, political, cultural, economic and environmental factors-including climate change--are integrated into determinants of global health. The text covers the foundations of global health, including the emerging concept of climate justice, the ethical context of global health, and the importance of interprofessional education. It addresses key issues of global health with a focus on poor and vulnerable individuals-particularly women and children-and those living in areas of conflict. In addition to describing notable accomplishments toward achieving global health, the book focuses on the need for increasing access to primary care, improving clinical practice through expanded education, and engaging interdisciplinary researchers in discovery of viable solutions. The book includes the perspectives of nurses and colleagues from other disciplines in both resource-rich and resource limited countries. The text also includes photographs and critical thinking questions. Reference lists and appendices provide resources for additional study, and PowerPoint slides and a test bank for instructors accompany the text. Key Features:* Case studies depict real-world experiences* Presents first-hand knowledge of global health dynamics, challenges, and opportunities* Provides a wealth of information from multiple perspectives* Authored by contributors across a variety of clinical and academic roles who are experienced in global health nursing and global health* Includes chapters written by nurses from both resource-limited and resource-rich countries

Climate change 2014 - Mitigation of climate change

Abstract: The talk with present the key results of the IPCC Working Group III 5th assessment report. Concluding four years of intense scientific collaboration by hundreds of authors from around the world, the report responds to the request of the world's governments for a comprehensive, objective and policy neutral assessment of the current scientific knowledge on mitigating climate change. The report has been extensively reviewed by experts and governments to ensure quality and comprehensiveness.

Quantifying the Influence of Climate on Human Conflict

Abstract: A rapidly growing body of research examines whether human conflict can be affected by climatic changes. Drawing from archeology, criminology, economics, geography, history, political science, and psychology, we assemble and analyze the 60 most rigorous quantitative studies and document, for the first time, a remarkable convergence of results. We find strong causal evidence linking climatic events to human conflict across a range of spatial and temporal scales and across all major regions of the world. The magnitude of climate's influence is substantial: for each 1 standard deviation (1σ) change in climate toward warmer temperatures or more extreme rainfall, median estimates indicate that the frequency of interpersonal violence rises 4% and the frequency of intergroup conflict rises 14%. Because locations throughout the inhabited world are expected to warm 2-4σ by 2050, amplified rates of human conflict could represent a large and critical impact of anthropogenic climate change.

Climate Change and Mental Health: A Scoping Review

Abstract: Climate change is negatively impacting the mental health of populations. This scoping review aims to assess the available literature related to climate change and mental health across the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) five global research priorities for protecting human health from climate change. We conducted a scoping review to identify original research studies related to mental health and climate change using online academic databases. We assessed the quality of studies where appropriate assessment tools were available. We identified 120 original studies published between 2001 and 2020. Most studies were quantitative (n = 67), cross-sectional (n = 42), conducted in high-income countries (n = 87), and concerned with the first of the WHO global research priorities—assessing the mental health risks associated with climate change (n = 101). Several climate-related exposures, including heat, humidity, rainfall, drought, wildfires, and floods were associated with psychological distress, worsened mental health, and higher mortality among people with pre-existing mental health conditions, increased psychiatric hospitalisations, and heightened suicide rates. Few studies (n = 19) addressed the other four global research priorities of protecting health from climate change (effective interventions (n = 8); mitigation and adaptation (n = 7); improving decision-support (n = 3); and cost estimations (n = 1)). While climate change and mental health represents a rapidly growing area of research, it needs to accelerate and broaden in scope to respond with evidence-based mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Epithelial barrier hypothesis: Effect of the external exposome on the microbiome and epithelial barriers in allergic disease

Abstract: Environmental exposure plays a major role in the development of allergic diseases. The exposome can be classified into internal (e.g., aging, hormones, and metabolic processes), specific external (e.g., chemical pollutants or lifestyle factors), and general external (e.g., broader socioeconomic and psychological contexts) domains, all of which are interrelated. All the factors we are exposed to, from the moment of conception to death, are part of the external exposome. Several hundreds of thousands of new chemicals have been introduced in modern life without our having a full understanding of their toxic health effects and ways to mitigate these effects. Climate change, air pollution, microplastics, tobacco smoke, changes and loss of biodiversity, alterations in dietary habits, and the microbiome due to modernization, urbanization, and globalization constitute our surrounding environment and external exposome. Some of these factors disrupt the epithelial barriers of the skin and mucosal surfaces, and these disruptions have been linked in the last few decades to the increasing prevalence and severity of allergic and inflammatory diseases such as atopic dermatitis, food allergy, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, eosinophilic esophagitis, and asthma. The epithelial barrier hypothesis provides a mechanistic explanation of how these factors can explain the rapid increase in allergic and autoimmune diseases. In this review, we discuss factors affecting the planet’s health in the context of the ‘epithelial barrier hypothesis,’ including climate change, pollution, changes and loss of biodiversity, and emphasize the changes in the external exposome in the last few decades and their effects on allergic diseases. In addition, the roles of increased dietary fatty acid consumption and environmental substances (detergents, airborne pollen, ozone, microplastics, nanoparticles, and tobacco) affecting epithelial barriers are discussed. Considering the emerging data from recent studies, we suggest stringent governmental regulations, global policy adjustments, patient education, and the establishment of individualized control measures to mitigate environmental threats and decrease allergic disease.

Workplace Violence Is Associated With Impaired Work Functioning in Nurses: An Italian Cross‐Sectional Study

Abstract: OBJECTIVE Workplace violence against nurses is a widespread phenomenon that has been associated with many unfavorable individual and organizational outcomes. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between violence and work functioning in a sample of Italian nurses. DESIGN Cross-sectional, with retrospective analysis of exposure. METHODS All nurses from a local hospital were invited to complete a questionnaire assessing violent experiences that occurred in the previous 12 months. The questionnaire also measured job strain (with the Demand-Control-Support questionnaire), organizational justice (with Colquitt's Questionnaire), and work impairment (with the Nurses Work Functioning Questionnaire). The associations were examined with logistic regression analyses. FINDINGS Of the 302 nurses who were invited, 275 (91.1%) agreed to participate. The total work impairment score was significantly higher among the nurses exposed to violence compared with the nonexposed nurses (42.2 ± 27.8 vs. 31.9 ± 31.6, respectively; p < .001). Exposed nurses also reported significantly higher levels of job strain (0.96 ± 0.25 vs. 0.8 ± 0.21; p = .003) and lower levels of perceived organizational justice (56.6 ± 12.6 vs. 62.5 ± 14.8; p = .001) than nonexposed nurses. Nurses who had experienced violence had a significantly higher risk for impairment of work functioning than their colleagues (crude odds ratio [OR] = 2.33; 95% confidence interval [CI 95%] = 1.42-3.83). The association between violence and impairment remained significant after adjusting for demographic variables, occupational stress, and perceived organizational justice (OR = 1.83; 95% CI 95% = 1.06-3.17). CONCLUSIONS Workplace violence is associated with impaired work function in nurses. Job strain and perceived organizational injustice are associated with impairment. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Violence prevention programs in healthcare activities should include training for violent behavior identification and de-escalation techniques, structural and administrative measures for violence control (such as alarms, surveillance, staff increase), and measures to reduce occupational stress, which can include wellness courses, spirituality, organizational improvements, and staffing methodologies.