Publications and Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-12-2022
Abstract
Natural hazards (NHs) associated with climate change have been increasing in frequency and intensity. These acute events impact humans both directly and through their effects on social and environmental determinants of health. Rather than relying on a fully reactive incident response disposition, it is crucial to ramp up preparedness initiatives for worsening case scenarios. In this perspective, we review the landscape of NH effects for human health and explore the potential of health informatics to address associated challenges, specifically from a preparedness angle. We outline important components in a health informatics agenda for hazard preparedness involving hazard-disease associations, social determinants of health, and hazard forecasting models, and call for novel methods to integrate them toward projecting healthcare needs in the wake of a hazard. We describe potential gaps and barriers in implementing these components and propose some high-level ideas to address them.
Included in
Climate Commons, Emergency and Disaster Management Commons, Health Information Technology Commons, Health Policy Commons
Comments
Phuong, J., Riches, N. O., Calzoni, L., Datta, G., Duran, D., Lin, A. Y., ... & Kavuluru, R. (2022). Toward informatics-enabled preparedness for natural hazards to minimize health impacts of climate change. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocac162