Non-medical drivers of health, also known as social determinants of health, have a significant impact on health outcomes. As fellow Sandra McKay and her co-authors explain, adequate funding to identify and address non-medical drivers — housing and food insecurity, transport issues, and financial strain — can improve patients’ health and health care delivery systems, while also reducing costs.
The authors describe five high priority challenges that must be overcome to accelerate the beneficial use of produced and other non-fresh water sources brought to the surface during oil and gas production.
Broad collaborative action between the government, industry, municipalities and other stakeholders is necessary to enable the beneficial use of non-fresh water, especially produced water from oil and gas production.