Milagros Elia Discusses Climate Change and Cancer Care at ONS 2023 (Part 1)

In part 1 of a 3-part series, Milagros Elia, MA, APRN, ANP-BC, 2023 ONS Excellence in Oncology Nursing Health Policy and Advocacy Award-winner, discusses climate change and its impact on cancer care. 

Some topics that Elia covers include prevention, treatment, diagnosis, and survivorship stages. She emphasizes how difficult it is for patients to adopt healthy behaviors when their environment doesn’t allow them, which is especially challenging in low-resource communities. Elia also points out how climate change exacerbates pandemics, making it harder for patients to access follow-up care and treatment and clinicians to reach their patients, causing moral distress on both sides.