Caitlin Roy is a dedicated volunteer advisor for the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care, specializing in Pharmacy. She serves as Co-founder and Secretary of the Canadian Association of Pharmacy for the Environment (CAPhE), Co-Chair of the Regina Pharmacy Department’s Environmental and Wellness Committee, and is a Clinical Support Pharmacist at the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) in Regina. With her extensive experience in clinical pharmacy and education, Caitlin is a passionate advocate for sustainability within health care.
Read below as Caitlin shares her reflections on the importance of making health care more sustainable. She discusses the ethical responsibility of pharmacists to address health care’s significant contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, the optimism she feels from growing advocacy, and the need for a cultural shift toward sustainability in health care systems. Caitlin also explores the challenges and opportunities for improving sustainability in pharmacy and beyond.
Read the full blog below
Q1: What inspires your commitment to making health care more sustainable?
- Recognizing health care’s contributions to greenhouse gas emissions - Health care’s contributions of up to 5% of greenhouse gas emissions, 25% of which are from pharmaceuticals (over 1% overall) is a red flag that I have an ethical responsibility as a pharmacist to do better. Not only is this harming our planet, it is hypocritically harming the patients I am trying to help.
- Optimism that we can and do make a difference - I have seen significant growth and traction in this area over the past years, largely due to frontline practitioners with a strong voice advocating for change. I’m inspired by the meaningful work of colleagues across the country.
- Caring for our planet and future generations - We have a beautiful planet that provides us with resources to thrive and we need to keep it healthy for generations to come.
Q2: What do you believe is the most important change health care should pursue?
An overall culture change within health care would go a long way. We are very reliant on efficient processes and single use plastics that result in significant upstream costs and waste. This is just one way of doing things – we need to rethink the current systems to find those that are sustainable AND efficient/effective/convenient.
Q3: What are the key challenges and opportunities in this field?
The opportunities for improvement are endless. I can look around my department or reflect on pharmacy practice and identify many processes that could be improved with a sustainability lens, some easy and some requiring significant effort. Unfortunately, there are also many challenges, most notably is buy-in from leadership in all areas of health care to prioritize this work. However, as noted above, I have seen the needle move towards a greater focus on planetary health. Additionally, it can be a challenge to find the right balance between safe and effective patient care, costs, and resource stewardship. I have found using an audit tool beneficial as a starting point to overcome some of these challenges (e.g. Development of an Environmental Audit Tool for Hospital Pharmacy).
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Caitlin's insights highlight the critical need for change in health care, emphasizing the responsibility we all share in fostering a more sustainable future. By continuing to advocate for sustainable practices, we can drive meaningful progress in both patient care and environmental stewardship.
Learn more about the mission of CAPhE at www.caphe.ca
Interested in sustainability in prescribing or joining an interest group? Get started at: https://greenhealthcare.ca/sustainable-prescribing/
Learn from the real experiences of students and professionals in pharmacy in in this webinar; Climate Change and Pharmacy: A Place for Everyone on YOUTUBE.
