Online Program

Oral

This Session addresses two of APHA’s three overarching priorities, namely: (1) Building Public Health Infrastructure and Capacity; and (2) Creating Health Equity. Place and geography are critical in framing the determinants of public health and community well-being. The purpose of this Special Session is to take a closer look into how place has played out for public health among the residents of New Orleans. Climate change – past, present and future – will provide a lens through which panelists discuss dimensions of place-based vulnerability and more importantly, efforts that have succeeded in building stronger community resilience to shocks of nature, of extreme weather, of industrial and economic disasters. The subject of place is of vital importance to coastal communities across the Gulf region, and for coastal cities where most of our population resides. Along with climate change which is bearing down on coastal communities with rising sea levels and more frequent storms and flooding; coastal residents must contend with the challenges of energy development, population growth, disruption of the coastal food webs and small scale commercial/subsistence fishing, exclusion of culturally important areas from flood control, and too often, increasing disparities in income and access to healthcare and social services. The invited speakers for this Session's panel represent prominent national voices on policy, politics, climate change’s effects on people, and how the Gulf Coast's experience illustrates community strength in the face of multiple assaults, where place is both a challenge and a source of identity. The Session panelists will discuss where, who, and what is protected by levees in vulnerable Gulf Coast areas, and what isn't; larger strategies for protecting communities and public health in the face of a changing climate; how to integrate ecosystem change into equitable community planning; and how we move forward with resilient planning to create healthier, more secure communities today, and for the next generations.

Session Objectives: List four place-based factors that increase New Orleans’ vulnerability to the harmful effects of climate change. Describe two success stories about building greater community resilience in New Orleans since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Assess one “missed opportunity” to build resilience in New Orleans; if it can be re-captured; and if so, how? Define ‘community resilience’ – is it about building strength to withstand specific shocks; or can resilient communities thrive through lots of extremes?

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)