NCCEH Ron de Burger Student Award winners

The BCCDC/NCCEH Environmental Health Seminar Series provides an opportunity for learning and knowledge exchange on a variety of environmental health topics. The seminars can be attended in-person or online.

Presentation 1: Exploring the Relationship between the Built Environment and Social Isolation and Loneliness: Implications for Public Policy

Summary: Purported to be as much of a risk factor for premature mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes per day, social isolation and loneliness is a significant predictor of adverse health outcomes. Through the application of a social ecological lens, a semi-systematic review was conducted to understand the association between the built environment and social isolation and loneliness. This webinar will present the findings of this research.

Speaker: Amber Gillespie, University of Guelph Amber Gillespie is a Registered Nurse and Nurse Educator currently completing a Master of Public Health degree with the University of Guelph. She has a strong interest in population health at the health systems level with specific interest in how enhancements to intersectoral collaboration can improve health outcomes.

Presentation 2: Computer Keyboards Transmitting More Than Words: A Knowledge Synthesis of Computer Keyboards in Hospitals as a Reservoir for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection

Summary: The advent of modern medicine has paved the way for electronic patient records, thus there has been a drastic increase in computer use in hospital settings. Followed by research on a number of inanimate objects in the hospital environment, computer keyboards are gaining global attention as a plausible reservoir for pathogens and their role in disease transmission. The implications of computer keyboard contamination must be considered in regard to patient health and awareness is imperative as this is a preventable public health issue. This environmental health evidence review was conducted to examine the current evidence surrounding computer keyboards as reservoirs for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospital settings and highlight gaps in both knowledge and policy. The webinar will present the global findings of this research.

Speaker: Saarah Hussain, University of Guelph