July 29, 2018
A number of you were in Oracle, Arizona and developed a strategic plan for ANHE. Below is the guiding document for the strategic plan. We hope you will be encouraged by the attention to Vision, Areas of Concern, and Principles.
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Oracle Statement, 2018
In celebration of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments’ 10-year anniversary, the Steering Committee gathered at the C.O.D. Ranch in Oracle, Arizona. The purpose of the retreat was to develop a strategic plan that will guide ANHE’s work over the next several years in order to meaningfully and equitably promote environmental health.
This March 27, 2018 ANHE reaffirms the commitments outlined in the 2009 ANHE Wingspread statement, by adopting the following vision, areas of concern, and principles. We collectively commit to using these guiding documents at every level of the organization to guide the direction and choices for how to move forward, including the partnerships we establish.
Vision:
ANHE is a transformational alliance preparing and engaging nurses to assure the environmental health of all people, overcome environmental health disparities, and to heal our communities and the earth for present and future generations.
Areas of Concern:
ANHE is committed to addressing the following areas, along with emerging environmental health issues:
- Water, Air, and Food
- Climate and Health
- Chemicals
- Energy
- Resource Conservation and Waste
- Built Environment
Guiding Principles:
Human health is interconnected with every aspect of the natural and built environment. When the environment is harmed, human health is threatened. When the environment is healthy and robust it promotes the health of all people.
All humans have the right to healthy and safe environments including:
- a stable climate
- healthy living and working conditions
- clean air and water
- safe food and agricultural practices
- products that are free from harmful chemicals
Professional nurses have a role in promoting and protecting human health, especially that of vulnerable and disproportionately impacted populations, from harm associated with environmental exposures. Nurses play a crucial role in addressing the determinants of health that affect all populations.
Nurses are professionally obligated to address environmental health. This includes the development of education, research, community partnerships and programs, co-creating policies that promote health and prevent disease, and reduce disease burdens. As one of the most trusted professions, nurses are a credible source for engaging with the local, national, and global communities and policy makers concerning environmental health, and ANHE will continue to uphold this trust by being evidence-based, transparent, and accountable for our actions.
ANHE’s environmental health work is rooted in scientific evidence and science, the imperative to do no harm, and commitment to diversity, inclusion, collaboration, equity and justice driven by compassion and human caring.
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Be Well!
Tom Engle
Newsletter Ed.
tsengle@frontier.com
