Mercy College Nursing Faculty Dr. Adrienne Wald Publishes Paper on Climate Change and Health
Dr. Adrienne Wald, associate professor of nursing, has co-authored a paper on negative impacts of extreme heat on physical activity and sports participation, and the role of climate change in causing extreme temperatures and heat waves. The article, "Race to Beat the Heat: Climate Change Impacts Physical Activity," was pre-published in January and will be part of an upcoming special issue of The Journal for Nurse Practitioners on climate and health.
In the article, Wald and co-author Dr. Shanda Demorest of PracticeGreenhealth and the University of Minnesota School of Nursing explore the rising toll of exertional heat illness (EHI) stemming from record-high temperatures and other heat hazards on those who engage in physical activity and sports. The authors illustrate how climate change, which increasingly is to blame for extreme heat events that adversely affect athletes and others, demands more involvement from nurse practitioners and other health professionals. They outline evidence-based strategies and tools available for helping individual athletes and sports communities to adapt to increased extreme heat threats. Wald participated as an evidence-analyst on the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2021 EHI position paper.
“Nurse practitioners play an essential role in protecting patients and the community from the growing health threat of extreme heat,” the authors state in the article. “Additional vigilance will become necessary as extreme heat events become even more widespread.”
Recently Wald, an educator, nursing advocate and mentor, was profiled in Water and Health: Opportunities for Nursing Action, a report from the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE). Wald has served ANHE as co-chair of the Global Climate Change Forum and maintains involvement in many issues relating to global, national and local environmental and public health issues. She continues her “ongoing advocacy efforts working to ensure that clean and safe water access remains a human right,” the report stated.
In addition, Wald is involved in several other initiatives, including Health Care Without Harm, a global non-profit that focuses on the worldwide movement for environmentally responsible health care and the Mercy College nursing program also participates in the national Nurses Climate Challenge aimed at educating students on health impacts of climate change.