Advancing sustainable healthcare
Master of Environment and Business graduate Anastasia MacDougall is eliminating barriers to a greener healthcare system.
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The Canadian healthcare system is directly responsible for 4.6% of national greenhouse gas emissions annually, making it one of the least “green” healthcare systems in the world. Transformation to a more sustainable healthcare system requires significant action from many invested sectors and organizations already stretched thin in an overburdened system. Burnout, the result of prolonged stress in the workplace, has become an increasingly common occurrence in healthcare. Enacting transformational change in an environment of pervasive burnout requires change management strategies that are sensitive to burnout prevention and mitigation strategies.
Anastasia MacDougall, a recent Master of Environment and Business graduate, has worked at The Ottawa Hospital for six years. She experienced significant burnout when trying to complete sustainability initiatives that went beyond her regular workplace responsibilities. When she became the Project Lead for Environmental Sustainability, she quickly realized she would be asking others to do the same. She saw the need to better understand change management to ensure her work was sensitive to the stresses on her colleagues.
For her capstone project course, MacDougall created a set of recommendations that support broad operationalization of sustainable development within healthcare organizations.
To do this, MacDougall first researched burnout prevention methods and effective change management strategies within healthcare and the public sector. She then collected data via interview and surveys from Canadian healthcare professionals who had experience implementing environmental sustainability initiatives.
The findings showed that sustainability initiatives could help prevent burnout by giving staff a sense of meaning and contribution. However, managers and senior leaders were more likely to experience a long-term increase in workload and higher rates of burnout symptoms related to these initiatives. Therefore, it is necessary for leadership to provide both resources and staff time to advance sustainability goals. The corporate culture must demonstrate compassion and social connectivity and effectively communicate the business case for sustainability.
The recommendation that MacDougall believes could have the biggest impact is the need for dedicated sustainability resources. These resources could assist staff with navigating bureaucratic challenges and reduce frustration. “There are dedicated resources in many healthcare organizations to support implementing Quality Improvement projects, and with environmental sustainability being recognized as a domain of quality, it is very similar.”
After the completion of the MEB capstone, MacDougall is using her results to inform her day-to-day work in Ottawa. Her first area of focus is supporting small-scale sustainability initiatives that are already in place, empowering front-line sustainability champions with the resources and knowledge these initiatives need to be expanded to larger projects. She is also developing a report to distribute to Canadian healthcare sustainability professionals.
There are dedicated resources in many healthcare organizations to support implementing Quality Improvement projects, and with environmental sustainability being recognized as a domain of quality, it is very similar.
MacDougall’s lived experience, combined with her education in the Master of Environment and Business program, will help The Ottawa Hospital transition to a more sustainable future while protecting the mental health of its workers.
