Bushfires and Your Health – tips, tricks and information to build resilience

Dr Penelope Jones (she/her)

Senior Research Fellow in Environmental Health & Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences, Menzies Institute for Medical Research & School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania

Did you know that smoke from bushfires can affect health conditions ranging from diabetes to heart disease, stroke, asthma and COPD?

Do you know where to get your local air quality information, and what the numbers mean for you?

Do you know what supports and strategies can support your mental health during and after a bushfire emergency?

If any of these questions seem relevant to you – you might be interested in the ‘Bushfires and Your Health’ short course, a free, online course developed by the University of Tasmania.

In a changing climate, we can expect to see more frequent and more severe bushfires across much of Australia.

This means it is incredibly important to build our bushfires resilience – including in terms of our health. We know that bushfires can have enormous mental and physical health impacts – the smoke alone from the Black Summer fires led to an estimated 400+ deaths, with many more people affected.

While concerning, there is a lot we can do to reduce these health risks, if we know what to look out for and what actions to take.

This is why our team developed ‘Bushfires and Your Health’, which steps you through seven Modules that help you understand and build resilience to the mental and physical health of bushfires and bushfire smoke. The course covers evidence-based strategies to help you plan, prepare, and take action when you need to – including a template for you to develop a personal bushfire health action plan, that you could take to your GP. If you’re really keen you can also have a go at building a DIY air cleaner!

If you’re interested, sign up for one of the upcoming offerings – we have courses starting 6 November 2023 and 15 January 2024. The course content takes about 6-10 hours to work through, including lots of videos, interactive activities and reflection points, and you have six weeks to complete this at your own pace.

If you are interested, sign up at bushfirehealth.mooc.edu.au or email bushfirehealth@utas.edu.au with any queries.