Humans do not exist in isolation. We are shaped by the world around us. From our workplaces and neighbourhoods to water and food sources, our environments profoundly impact our health and well-being.
This year alone, more than 12 million people around the world will die from causes linked to environmental factors like air pollution, water and soil contamination, chemical exposure and ultraviolet radiation. In Canada, more than a quarter million people will suffer a workplace injury; approximately 1,000 of these accidents will result in death.
Working at the environment-health nexus, researchers in Applied Health Sciences are developing new ways to prevent illness and injury and improve health for individuals at home, at work and in their communities. We are reducing back injuries in automotive factories, working to mitigate the public health impact of mining in vulnerable communities and addressing the health consequences of climate change globally. Through collaboration with organizations like the Canadian Armed Forces, the World Health Organization and Global Affairs Canada, our researchers are redefining the links between environment and health and accelerating strategies to protect populations.
Preventing workplace injury
Work-related injuries that affect the body’s complex system of muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, discs and blood vessels are the single largest contributor to lost time claims and costs in Canada and around the world. Ranging from low-back pain to carpal tunnel syndrome and shoulder tendinitis, musculoskeletal disorders have sweeping social and economic consequences — affecting employers, industries and the larger health-care system.
The Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) in Applied Health Sciences is working to reduce and prevent these painful disorders through multidisciplinary and cross-sector research. Funded by a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, CRE-MSD brings together 43 researchers from 11 different universities and institutes to pioneer ways to keep the workforce healthy. Whether it’s redesigning police cruisers to minimize strain on officers’ backs and necks or gaining a better understanding of shoulder injury mechanisms, researchers are striving to make workplaces as safe as possible for employees through better design, education and training.
Understanding human-land relationships in Canada's north
In the Canadian Arctic, the wild landscape surrounding the 900-km Thelon River is both a homeland and a sacred place for Indigenous communities. Over time, tourism has redefined the space as a leisure landscape — simultaneously jeopardizing millennia-old heritage and creating new economic and cultural opportunities.
Professor Bryan Grimwood is exploring these human-land interactions and advocating for social justice and responsible environmental management. His work is focused on ensuring sustainability and helping Indigenous communities maintain cultural livelihoods, land-based connections, health and well-being.
DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND LEISURE STUDIES
Avoiding back pain at sit-stand workstations
Excessive sitting behind a desk can double your risk of dying from cardiovascular conditions and increase musculoskeletal disorders.
While experts have long been advising people to stand at their workstations for about 15 minutes an hour to reduce health risks, Professor Jack Callaghan is looking at what those recommendations mean for back pain. Early findings in his multi-year study reveal that integrating standing too quickly into your work routine can create clinical chronic back problems. His work will be used to create guidelines on optimal sit-stand ratios and help organizations more safely implement standing stations in the workplace.
DEPARTMENT OF KINESIOLOGY
Monitoring exposure to food contaminants
For Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories, traditional foods like fish, moose and geese are both a vital source of nutrition and an integral part of culture and heritage. They can also be a pathway of exposure for environmental contaminants like mercury, cadmium and persistent organic pollutants.
Professor Brian Laird is leading a biomonitoring project in Canada’s subarctic to evaluate people’s exposure to these contaminants and assess the risks to their health. By collecting blood, hair and urine samples, he is measuring toxicant levels in the human body and developing ways to sustain traditional food harvesting while reducing exposure to chemicals in the environment.
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEMS
