Looking At the Bigger Picture

GREENER HEALTH CARE - "The Campaign for Greener Health care is a dynamic, independent team working on the interface between health and sustainability to bring health messages into the centre of the climate change agenda and to transform health care for a sustainable future".
LINK

I was very excited to find this group in London who are getting those in health care to take another look at how they can become more sustainable in their places of work and then pass the benefits onto their service users.

Greener Health Care (a London based organisation) seemed to have taken on a mammoth task trying to change health care services into becoming more sustainable in their practices. If you read their Annual Review, (2009) (http://greenerhealthcare.org/webfm_send/106) and see what they achieved in a short space of time they must be on to something those in the health care profession agree with.

Another initiative from the Greener Health Care is a forum called; Sustainability for Health: an Evidence Base for Action from the Campaign for Greener Health care (SHEBA) (http://www.sustainabilityforhealth.org/) this is an index of the information sources that will help to achieve the thorough transformation in energy consumption, waste disposal, and water usage that is needed.

They have also been looking at how they implement changes at an educational level, so for Occupational Therapy: “We have also had a busy year helping to introduce sustainability onto the agenda of the College of Occupational Therapy (OT). We have written articles for the college magazine, submitted abstracts for the conference, formed an online “Green OT” Network, and planned a Sustainable Living study day for early 2010”. I wonder if this will flow onto Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy?

If, as occupational therapists, we are resourceful in our interventions (listen to the podcast on the post prior to this one for some ideas) this will then reflect encouragingly on our profession and impact positively on those whom we are enabling.

So the challenge.......Occupational Therapists start looking in your own backyard to see how you can reduce your carbon footprint, by walking to work, switching some lights off or acquiring produce at a more local level. Have a look around there may be someone in your backyard who is growing vegetables, has chickens or has excess of fruit, that they then may be able to supply ingredients and ideas for your next kitchen assessment.