DIY Air Cleaner Project

Periods of extreme heat and firesmoke are becoming more frequent in British Columbia with devastating consequences. People living at the intersections of poverty, medical vulnerability and low quality housing are often disproportionately impacted by these events. Our research seeks to answer the following questions: 1) How do communities currently navigate these exposures, 2) How can we best provide education and tools at the community level to people most at risk from fire smoke and/or extreme heat? 3) What recommendations can we provide to local governments and community service providers to support resilience around extreme smoke and heat for priority populations?
For more than 110 years, BC Lung has been a leader in the fight for healthy lungs and healthy air.This proposal builds off of work done in 2023 where an in-person workshop template was created at BC Lung Foundation that teaches people how to help themselves during periods of extreme smoke and heat. The workshop pilots were done with seniors, families of children with asthma and those living with lung disease in the Fraser Valley. The goal of this year’s (2024) summer project is to expand the program to include priority populations in Metro Vancouver and ensure that the workshop model is adapted for and responsive to the needs of people living at the intersections of poverty, medical vulnerability and poor quality housing.
The data generated by this research will be mobilized to policy makers, public health officials, and governments with the aim of developing policies and practices to reduce the mortality and morbidity from extreme climate events in the Metro Vancouver region.

Faculty Supervisor:

Stuart Poyntz

Student:

Partner:

Vancity Community Foundation

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Finance and Insurance; Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Other services (except public administration)

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: