The Public Health Opportunity When Planning Initiatives to Rebuild Coastal Structures

To improve public health, communities can transform in a host of ways. Recognizing and incorporating health considerations into plans and actions have far-reaching benefits for the community’s future welfare. Resources will continue to be marshalled to mitigate severe weather’s impact. When coastlines are sustained and protected against severe weather, there is less flooding threat to housing and other structures. By mitigating the impact from storm severity, interruptions to medical care access and damage to infrastructure would likely be reduced. These and other benefits would accrue from less disruption to power and fewer contamination events from failed sewer systems. Recreational opportunities for individuals from increased access and/or new structures on the coast could contribute to physical and mental health improvement. All of this is important, but the potential to improve public health and welfare is profoundly broader. Initiatives to rebuild coastal structures could foster healthier, more resilient communities, beyond improving the integrity of coastal structures. This presentation will discuss the benefits of broadly considering public health opportunities and consequences when planning improvements to coastlines that address adaptive measures against the impacts from severe storms. Ideas designed to raise population health status discussed in the 2015 Institute of Medicine report Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters: Strategies, Opportunities, and Planning for Recovery will be shared. The presentation will identify specific topics and actions that could be considered when planning for, building and implementing environmental-focused improvements to coasts. Attention to these items may leverage resources to support broader public health goals while fulfilling project goals.