We have reached capacity for our April Masterclass; if you are interested in taking the course, please follow us on Twitter (@sushealsys) for announcements of future offerings.

DETAILS 

COURSE FORMAT: Online; Self-directed learning + four online sessions + optional follow-up session

DATES:

• Online content available: April 1-29, 2021 (Canvas)

• Weekly sessions: Thursday, April 8, 15, 22 & 29; 5:30-7:30 pm EST/6:30-8:30 pm AST (Zoom)

• Follow-up session: September 2021 (date TBD) (Zoom)

COST: $250 plus HST*  

*If cost is prohibitive, please contact us as some subsidies are available 

COURSE DESCRIPTION 

Climate change is recognized as the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century (Lancet, 2018; WHO, 2015; UCL/Lancet Commission, May 2009). Canada’s healthcare system is a large, resource-intensive sector of the Canadian economy; it is responsible for at least 4.6% of GHG and 5.1% of carbon dioxide emissions annually (Eckelman, 2018; Pichler, 2019), and ranks second in per capita health system emissions globally (Lancet, 2020). While the sector dedicated to extending and improving our quality of life is a significant contributor to a phenomenon putting human health at risk, there are many opportunities for the health sector to develop and implement sustainability interventions that protect, promote, and prioritize health. 

The Masterclass in Sustainable Health Systems is a professional education program for frontline staff and administrators and leaders within care delivery, professional, and support organizations with an interest in high quality, low carbon care. The program is offered online by the University of Toronto's Centre for Sustainable Health Systems in partnership with Dalhousie's Healthy Populations Institute. 

Through self-directed online learning and weekly Zoom meetings, participants will gain knowledge, develop skills, and forge collaborations that will help them advocate for and participate in a bottom-up and top-down shift toward a more environmentally sustainable health system. A certificate of completion will be awarded at the end of the course. 

AGENDA    

Week 1: Motivating Change: What is “sustainable healthcare” and why do we need it? 

• Meeting: Thursday, April 8th; 5:30-7:30 pm EST/6:30-8:30 pm AST (Zoom) 

Week 2: Initiating Change: Approaching sustainability through a Quality Improvement lens

• Meeting: Thursday, April 15th; 5:30-7:30 pm EST/6:30-8:30 pm AST (Zoom) 

Week 3: Measuring Change: Evaluating the impact of sustainability action 

• Meeting: Thursday, April 22nd; 5:30-7:30 pm EST/6:30-8:30 pm AST (Zoom) 

Week 4: Embedding Change: Turning sustainable practice into standard practice for system transformation 

• Meeting: Thursday, April 29th; 5:30-7:30 pm EST/6:30-8:30 pm AST (Zoom) 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

At successful completion of “Week 1: Motivating Change: What is “sustainable healthcare” and why do we need it?,” learners will be able to:   

• Recognize the range of environmental challenges facing the human community, and their implications for population health through a planetary health framework 

• Explain the environmental impacts of the health sector  

• Identify the characteristics of sustainable care  

• Recognize opportunities for sustainable improvements in the health sector  

At successful completion of “Week 2: Initiating Change: Approaching sustainability through a Quality Improvement lens,” learners will be able to:  

• Explain the Sustainable Quality Improvement (SusQI) Framework

• Explain the Quality Improvement process  

• Approach sustainability interventions and system change through a QI lens 

• Outline a strategy for testing a sustainability intervention 

At successful completion of “Week 3: Measuring Change: Evaluating the impact of sustainability action,” learners will be able to:  

• Understand the various indicators used to quantify environmental impact and how they relate to health systems 

• Begin to develop a sense of the different methods that can be used to quantify these indicators 

• Identify key data points that can be collected to make the case for change and to evaluate the success of the change 

At successful completion of “Week 4: Embedding Change: Turning sustainable practice into standard practice for system transformation,” learners will be able to:   

• Articulate concepts aimed at normalizing environmental sustainability in healthcare culture and practice 

• Identify strategies to scale up localized sustainability actions  

• Situate themselves as change agents within the broader movement for a health system-wide sustainability transition    

GUEST SPEAKERS 

Ali Abbass Anesthesiologist, St. Joseph’s Hospital

Dr. Ali Abbass is an anesthesiologist and chief of environmental stewardship and sustainability at St. Joseph's Health Centre in Toronto. Dr. Abbass created the first PVC Recycling initiative in North America when he started recycling PVC medical devices such as IV bags and oxygen mask and tubing waste at St. Joseph’s. He is currently working on PVC 123, the first national Medical PVC Recycling Partnership program, in partnership with Environment and Climate Change Canada and The Vinyl Institute of Canada.

Alex Cimprich PhD Candidate, Sustainability Management, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo

Alex is a PhD candidate in Sustainability Management in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at the University of Waterloo, where he also completed a Bachelor of Environmental Studies in Environment and Business and a Master of Environmental Studies in Sustainability Management. His research uses industrial ecology approaches, principally life cycle assessment, with a current focus on applications to healthcare sustainability.

Marianne Dawson Sustainability Consultant – Recycling & Waste Reduction, Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Facilities Management

Marianne Dawson works as a Sustainability Consultant in the Energy and Environmental Sustainability department, supporting the four Lower Mainland Health Organizations: Fraser Health, Providence Health, Provincial Health Services Authority, and Vancouver Coastal Health. She specializes in waste reduction and recycling strategies, programs, and projects to reduce the environmental impact of health care operations and improve the resiliency of health care facilities for human and environmental health. 

Marianne focuses on data collection and analysis, research and special projects, and staff education and engagement as tools to bring about lasting organizational change.

Daniel Rainham Associate Professor, Health Promotion; Senior Research Scientist Healthy Populations Institute

Daniel is an Associate Professor in the School of Health and Human Performance in the Faculty of Health and holds several cross-appointments in Community Health and Epidemiology, the College of Sustainability, and is the former Director of the Environmental Science program. He is also a Senior Research Scholar with the Healthy Populations Institute, is Co-Lead of the Creating Sustainable Health Systems in a Climate Crisis project, and is an Associate Scientist with the Maritime SPOR Support Unit in the Faculty of Medicine.

His research is focused at the nexus of population health science, environmental epidemiology and health geography, with a emphasis on people-environment interactions and health behaviours, the health benefits of nature contact in health promotion, and technological innovations in wearable data capture and spatial analytics.

Ed Rubinstein Director– Environmental Compliance, Energy, and Sustainability, UHN

Ed Rubinstein is the University Health Network’s Director of Environmental Compliance, Risk and Sustainability. He’s been leading the hospital’s many environment programs since 1999 and has helped UHN become a leader in environmental sustainability in health care.

Both UHN and Ed’s leadership in the field of “greening health care” have been recognized by several awards, including from the Ontario Hospital Association, Canadian College of Health Leaders, Natural Resources Canada, Practice Greenhealth and the Canadian Council of Ministers for the Environment.

Kimberly Wintemute Family Doctor, Assistant Professor, UofT

Kimberly Wintemute (MD) is a Family Doctor and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. As a Primary Care Lead of the Choosing Wisely Canada campaign (2015 to present) and former Medical Director of North York Family Health Team (2008-2016), she is active in quality improvement, teaching and fostering inter-professional approaches to care. The concerns woven into her daily work include the impact of low-value care and sustainability, both of our health care system and our planet.

In 2014, she was named Regional Family Physician of the Year by the Ontario College of Family Physicians.