Exploring the WFOT position statement on environmental sustainability

Ben Whittaker (OT Programme Lead, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare)Samantha Shann (Vice President Finance, WFOT)

150 years 100 years 50 years NOW

First Oil Well

4142 cars, 10 miles concrete

road in US

240,000,000 home PCs

650,000,000 cars

4,800,000,000 passenger flights

4,000,000,000 bulbs pa EU+USA

alone (that’s 126 a second)

First commercial

jet ticket

First home PCDomestic

light bulb

(Montgomery 2009)

196,442 kg of coal…..103,881,279 litres of gas….150,179 litres of oil…..…….. A SECOND

(Montgomery 2009)

Flows of emissions of CO2 from burning fossil-fuels have risen rapidly since 1950

0

5

10

15

20

25

1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000

Billi

ons

of to

nnes

of C

O2

(Montgomery 2009)

“…every year climate change leaves over 300,000 people dead, 325 million people seriously affected, and economic losses of US$125 billion. Four billion people are vulnerable, and 500 million people are at extreme risk.” (GHF 2009, p1)

What is sustainable development?

Social

Environmental Economic

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs(WCED 1987)

Sustainable development

WFOT Position Statement on Environmental Sustainability (2012)

Global Health Values

Interdependence

Independence

Rights

Crisp (2010)

WFOT Position Statement on Human Rights(2006)

Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E) (Polatajko, Townsend & Craik, 2007)

Green Lifestyle Redesign® Camille Dieterle OTD, OTR/L

A Wellness Program for Environmental Sustainability

Sustainable healthcare education

“Health is a collective value. One person’s health should not, and ultimately cannot, be maintained at the expense of another’s, nor through the excessive use of natural resources” (Stott 2000, p14)

Joel Pett/Lexington Herald-Leader. Reprinted with permission.

References• Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (2010) Sustainable Healthcare Education. Available at:

http://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/education Accessed on: 22.03.2011• College of Occupational Therapists (2007) Building the Evidence for Occupational Therapy:

Priorities for Research. London: COT.• Crisp N (2010) Turning the World Upside Down: The Search for Health in the 21st Century.

Florida, USA: Taylor & Francis Group.• Dieterle C (2013) Creating a Sustainable Lifestyle. Available at:

www.sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/occupational-therapy-sustainable-practice-network-ot-susnet/blog/2013/02/creating-sustainable-lifest Accessed on: 04.03.2013.

• Global Humanitarian Forum (2009) Human Impact Report: Climate Change – The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis. Geneva: GHF.

• Montgomery H (2009) The Time for Action is Now. Available at: www.climateandhealth.org/getinformed/ Accessed on: 11.12.2010.

• Pett J (2010) “What if it’s a big hoax and we create a better world…?” editorial cartoon. USA Today, 07.12.2009, A.8.

• Polatajko HJ, Townsend EA & Craik J (2007) Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E). In: Townsend EA & Polatajko HJ (2007). Enabling Occupation II: Advancing an Occupational Therapy Vision for Health, Well-being & Justice through Occupation. Ottawa, ON: CAOT ACE.

• Stott R (2000) The Ecology of Health. Dartington: Green Books.• UCL Lancet Commission (2009) Managing the health effects of climate change. The

Lancet, 373(9676), 1693-1733.• UK National Ecosystem Assessment (2011) The UK National Ecosystem Assessment:

Synthesis of the Key Findings. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge.• WCED (1987) Our Common Future: Brundtland Report. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Available at: worldinbalance.net/pdf/1987-brundtland.pdf Accessed on: 06.12.2009.• Whittaker B (2011) OT Susnet – The Story so Far. Available at:

http://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/occupational-therapy-sustainable-practice-network-ot-susnet/blog/2011/11/ot-susnet-story-so-far Accessed on: 14.06.2013.

• WHO (2008) Protecting Health from Climate Change – World Health Day 2008. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

• World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2006) Position statement on human rights. Forrestfield: WFOT.

• World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2009) Guiding Principles on Diversity and Culture. Forrestfield: WFOT.

• World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2012) Position statement on environmental sustainability: sustainable practice within occupational therapy. Forrestfield: WFOT.

References

Ben Whittakerben.whittaker@sustainablehealthcare.org.uk

Samantha Shannadmin@wfot.org.au