Catalyst (community climate health equity research center)

This $3,690,905 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) under the Environmental Health (CFDA 93.113) program supports the CATALYST (Community Climate Health Equity Research Center) initiative. The primary objective is to generate evidence on how extreme climate events, such as heat waves and poor air quality, impact health outcomes like hypertension and asthma among patients served by community health centers (CHCs) - organizations that provide culturally competent care to historically marginalized populations. The award will fund the establishment of a transdisciplinary research team and data infrastructure to conduct novel analyses on climate-induced health impacts in CHC patient populations. Additionally, the project will convene a learning community of researchers, CHC leaders/staff, and community stakeholders to identify interventions that can help CHCs prepare for and mitigate these climate-related health threats. The findings from this research are intended to equip CHCs with the evidence needed to effectively address climate-induced health disparities in their patient populations.

Abstract

Historically marginalized U.S. Communities have inequitably high risks of experiencing climate- induced health impacts. The primary care safety net community health centers (chcs) serving these populations are uniquely positioned to prepare for and mitigate these impacts, as chcs are trusted, culturally competent care providers in their communities and have expertise in reducing health disparities. To intervene successfully, chcs need to be equipped with evidence on: (1) how extreme climate events impact health outcomes in CHC populations (which differ substantially from those in other care settings); and (2) what interventions chcs can enact to effectively prepare for and mitigate these impacts. The community catalyst (community climate health equity research center) cchrc will provide this evidence and the proposed planning process will prepare the cchrc to do so as follows. Our administrative core will assemble a transdisciplinary team of experts in climate and health, health equity, social risks and related interventions, intervention development and implementation / dissemination, health policy, community-engaged research, and primary care in chcs. The administrative core will also create the data infrastructure needed to study climate-induced health impacts in CHC populations by linking existing, robust, geocoded research-ready electronic health record data from the ochin practice-based research network (>1,700 CHC clinic sites in 36 states) with existing granular data on extreme heat events and air quality created by harvard's confluence project. Our research program core will use this dataset in novel analyses to identify how extreme heat and poor air quality impact hypertension and asthma incidence and exacerbation in CHC patients, and the effect modifiers of these impacts. Our community engagement core will convene a learning community of researchers and diverse representatives from chcs (leaders, staff, patients) and other relevant community- based organizations (e.g., public health departments, environmental non-profits). In a multidirectional, iterative process, this cchrc learning community will identify: (1) interventions that have potential to mitigate patterns of climate-induced health impacts in CHC populations, and (2) the research needed to generate evidence on such interventions' effectiveness. The cchrc will then be prepared to immediately begin conducting research that is led by community-researcher partnerships and designed to address community-identified evidence needs on how chcs can prepare for and mitigate climate-induced health impacts in their populations.