Michigan Climate and Health Adaptation Program (MICHAP)
Lead Organization: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Program Name: Michigan Climate and Health Adaptation Program (MICHAP)s
Summary:
The Michigan Climate and Health Adaptation Program (MICHAP) primarily addresses extreme heat, air quality and respiratory illnesses, flooding, vector-borne diseases, water-borne diseases, extreme weather events, and power outages from such events. Some of MICHAP’s adaptation activities include integrating climate health adaptation in community planning and the built environment, building adaptive capacity in urban and rural communities based on their specific vulnerabilities, and working with other local and state level public health partners to collect, assess, and share climate and health information and data. Addressing these hazards serves and benefits all the Michigan residents, and especially the vulnerable populations in each locale where work is being done. An important climate driver of negative health outcomes in Michigan is extreme precipitation. Major health impact pathways identified through the BRACE framework include exposure to waterborne diseases from combined sewer overflows, harmful algal blooms due to increased runoff, impacts on drinking water sources from flooding and drought, and injury or stress from flooding-related damage to homes and infrastructure. MICHAP partners across sectors to address many of these issues. One such partnership, with Michigan State University Extension and the Marquette County Health Department, produced the Marquette Climate and Health Adaptation Guidebook. Local decision makers are using the resource to assess climate impacts on their communities’ health and using built environment design concepts to incorporate health adaptations into community planning. The Marquette pilot project will inform a generalized version of this guidebook that will be shared with other rural Michigan communities and partners.
Climate-Ready State funded since 2010
Relevant Links
- MI Climate and Health Profile Report: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdhhs/MI_Climate_and_Health_Profile_517517_7.pdfpdf iconexternal icon
- MICHAP Strategic Plan Update: 2016-2021: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdhhs/MICHAP_Strategic_Plan_update_final_10_4_537461_7.pdfpdf iconexternal icon
- Health Impact Assessments and Other Resiliency Collaborations: https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/0,5885,7-339-71548_54783_54784_55975-365488–,00.htmlexternal icon
- Marquette Climate and Health Adaptation Guidebook: https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/marquette-area-climate-and-health-adaptation-guidebook-volume-i-stakeholder-engagement-and-visual-design-imagingexternal icon
To learn more, please visit: www.michigan.gov/climateandhealthexternal icon
Contact information:
Principal Investigator: Lorraine Cameron, MPH, PhD – CameronL@michigan.gov
Program Manager: Aaron Ferguson, MPA – FergusonA1@michigan.gov