Protecting the Most Vulnerable from the Heat of Climate Change

DDA talks with Jeanne Hansen who's sister, Tracey McKinley, who suffered mental health issues, died in the heat dome of 2021. Despite new government policy, what can we do to better protect people who can't protect themselves?

 

TRANSCRIPT:

Evan Kelly  0:05   So welcome back to DDA's Encouraging Abilities podcast. This is where we connect with advocates in the disability community, help tell their stories, raising disability awareness and be a supporter and advocate for them as well. For those who don't know about DDA, we are a community living agency that serves Vancouver and Richmond. We support roughly 2000 clients with developmental disabilities and their families and have been doing so since about 1952. In fact, this is our 70th anniversary year. So as we head into summer 2022, we've just passed the first sort of hot weekend, I guess, you remember last year when over 600 people in BC died as a result of the heat dome that settled over the province in early July. The unprecedented weather system showed a lot of vulnerabilities and how the province operates and transmits crucial information to better protect those who can't easily protect themselves. So that of course includes people we look after at DDA. Many people with developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome, can leave people unable to regulate their own body heat. So protecting them becomes very important. And sometimes when people with disabilities or even mental health conditions, can't properly communicate, if something is wrong, so that becomes very problematic. So today we are joined by Jeanne Hansen. Last year, she lost her sister, Tracey McKinlay, who suffered from schizophrenia to the extreme heat and is now advocating for change, for better education and compassion for the most vulnerable people in society when it comes to weather. So welcome to our podcast, Jeanne. It's very nice to have you here. Right from the start, condolences for the loss of your sister Tracey, who you said, just know that today's the anniversary. 

Jeanne Hansen  1:50   The one year anniversary, thank you for your condolences. 

Evan Kelly  1:53   That's, you know, that's very very difficult to take, of course, and we really appreciate you being here. So tell us a little bit about what your sister was like.

Jeanne Hansen  2:03   Gosh, what wasn't she like, she was a pretty awesome sister. She did have schizophrenia, which caused her to have lots of different issues over the years. But she always did it with kindness and humor, very, very witty humor, and love for everybody and anyone. So she was a very kind soul who everybody in New Westminster where she lived knew her. It didn't matter what we were doing, where we were going, if we were shopping, or out for lunch, or just walking around and going to Timmies for a double double. Everybody knew Tracy, everybody had nice things to say to her and about her.

Evan Kelly  2:48   Her illness, schizophrenia, did that limit what she could do in terms of employment? How does she function in her own life?

Jeanne Hansen  2:55   Yes, she did live on her own. She did have support, of course from family and as well as the SIL program, the semi-independent living program and mental health in New Westminster. But the stresses of everyday life that we just face normally she couldn't handle so she didn't have a nine to five job or any job really, and but she did function well in her life that she did live on her own.

Evan Kelly  3:23   Now, you said early in another news piece that the medication she took to battle, her mental illness damaged her kidneys, which the heat exacerbated, which ultimately led to her death. How do we as a society inform ourselves that this could even be a risk, like that might for people that might not even enter their consciousness, as something you need to consider?

Jeanne Hansen  3:44   Well, we certainly didn't have a clue that it would have the e