September 26-30, 2016 marks the recognition of Environmental Public Health Week across Canada. Environmental public health is the way in which your environment (inside and outside, natural and human-made) can affect your health. This includes the food you eat, the air you breathe, and the water you drink. It also includes things like making sure conditions in your home don't make you sick, and that your health is protected in times of emergency. 

The First Nations Perspective on Wellness highlights the significance of environment as part of the holistic state of well-being. First Nations Health Authority employs Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) and support staff who aim to build community capacity, create awareness, investigate  issues, and provide advice to communities and leadership. 

There are likely many staff in your community who interact with FNHA EHOs and together work to reduce the spread of illness in your community. This can include housing managers, community-based water monitors, band administrators, your Chief and Council, community health nurses. There are also the unsung heroes who work to prevent and resolve the issues that might cause illness: operations and maintenance staff, water treatment plant operators, public works employees.

We invite all community members to think about the ways in which their surroundings and environment can impact their health – both positively and negatively – and how the FNHA Environmental Public Health Services team might work with your community. As partners in health and wellness, we support local decision-making to ensure our work can have the greatest positive impact.

Environmental public health is a collaborative effort, and the FNHA Environmental Public Health Services team would like to thank and recognize all of the individuals who work tirelessly to ensure their communities are safe, healthy places to live.

Announcing the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network in BC

To mark Environmental Public Health Week the FNHA would like to share a new partnership and tool that aims to support First Nations communities to identify, monitor and communicate environmental changes in their territories.

The Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network was designed by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC). Its purpose is to increase awareness about vulnerabilities and impacts of climate change, and to connect observers with indigenous and scientific experts. This creates an important  connection of traditional, local, and scientific forms of knowledge. The LEO Network is being expanded to British Columbia (BC) through partnership of the Ocean Integrity Research and the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) as a way to better understand the environmental changes that communities are observing.

Find out more about the BC LEO Network and how you can participate in this one-page factsheet. 

Access the LEO Network online at: www.leonetwork.org

To learn more about FNHA Environmental Public Health Services, click here.