Chapters authored
Perspective Chapter: Climate Change and Health Inequities
Climate change poses an imminent danger to health and humanity. Climate change via the drivers of rising temperatures, increasing natural disasters, rising sea levels, and air pollution pose significant challenges for the healthcare system and negatively impact patient health. These health risks include increased temperature-related morbidity and mortality, air-pollution-related health effects, and frailty due to respiratory and cardiovascular impacts from heat and weather events. Increased adverse birth outcomes have also been associated with climate change. Urbanization, exposure to increased heat levels, and exposure to increased natural disasters and extreme weather events also lead to higher levels of injury and mortality, increased health system trauma burden, and increased demand on the healthcare system’s capacity. While all populations are impacted by climate change, vulnerable populations are disproportionately at risk. The impact on global health will be tremendous unless significant action is taken to reduce carbon emissions and curtail climate change.
Part of the book: Health Inequality
Minimally Invasive Surgery and Inequalities in Access to Care
Minimally invasive surgery (MIS), including robotic and laparoscopic surgery, is a groundbreaking approach that has revolutionized surgical procedures. It confers an extensive list of benefits for patients, including but not limited to improved overall patient outcomes and reduced overall costs. Despite these and other well-documented advantages of MIS, there continues to be disparate access to these types of procedures locally and globally, and invariably, disparate health outcomes for distinct patient populations. This chapter thoroughly examines the advantages of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), the existing disparities in access, and proposes strategies to address and reduce these barriers, with a focus on the populations most affected by these disparities. It offers a comprehensive overview of the benefits of MIS, the challenges in accessing it, and provides solutions to promote equity in healthcare.
Part of the book: Bridging Social Inequality Gaps - Concepts, Theories, Methods, and Tools [Working title]