Climate Response Evaluation Intern

Position Summary
Interior Health (IH) is seeking a dynamic Climate Response Evaluation Intern to join the Office of the Chief Medical Health Officer, Population and Public Health. This role will be based out of Kelowna, B.C. (with flexibility for hybrid or remote working) and the position is for approximately 16 weeks (May to August).

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and an attractive remuneration package
• Career Growth
• Opportunity to develop
• A work environment that supports your psychological health & safety needs
• Aboriginal Employment Career advising
• Balanced lifestyle

What will you work on?

The Project: Evaluating a Rural Health Authority’s Response Mechanisms in the face of extreme temperature events.
The primary objective is to evaluate Interior Health's public health preparedness, response, and recovery processes during extreme temperature events. This includes assessing the ability to activate timely and adequate planning and response measures, communicate risks and availability of resources effectively to the public, including vulnerable populations, and coordinate with partner organizations, such as local governments, Indigenous partners and other community organizations. To ensure a robust evaluation, this project also involves identifying and operationalizing indicators that reflect the health authority’s capacity and effectiveness to plan and respond to extreme temperatures. These indicators will cover factors like:

• Preparedness: Training programs for staff, availability of early warning systems, access to resources, effectiveness of Interior Health in supporting the development of community response plans for extreme temperature events.
• Response: Timeliness of activating response plans, effectiveness of Interior Health in supporting the implementation of community response plans for extreme temperature events.
• Equity: Effectiveness of mechanisms for outreach to vulnerable populations, such as seniors, low-income households, and individuals with chronic illnesses. Consideration of the needs of vulnerable populations in response and recovery protocols.
The Role: As part of the Population Health climate team, and working with other internal partners, the intern will play a crucial role by evaluating Interior Health's public health preparedness, response, and recovery processes during extreme temperature events. This evaluation will provide the health authority with actionable insights into its processes and empower internal partners to make evidence-based improvements to enhance operational efficacy and community resilience. Main tasks include:

Exploratory study (Month 1 - 2)

• Review the ways the mechanisms for responding to extreme temperature are evaluated in other jurisdictions and/or sectors. Identify relevant assessment criteria and indicators for measuring the effectiveness of preparedness, response, and recovery processes.
• Explore the Interior Health's existing processes for responding to recent extreme temperature events by analyzing documents (i.e., plans, after-action reviews) and conducting interview and focus groups with health authority staff and community stakeholders to gather insights on challenges and successes of the existing response and recovery processes.

Process Evaluation (Month 3 - 4)

• Analyze the effectiveness of Interior Health’s mechanisms for responding to these events based on collected data (i.e., assessing efficacy of plans, preparedness activities including training for staff, internal communication, clarity of roles, inter-agency coordination, etc.).
• Evaluate the timeliness and adequacy of response actions. Review mechanisms for providing post-event support to affected communities and efforts to reduce long-term impacts on communities.

Reasons to Apply at Interior Health... What we can do for you

We offer a work environment conducive to growth and development of strong clinical skills and a work environment that supports and promotes psychological health & safety for all. We offer the opportunity to have a balanced lifestyle that allows you to maintain the quality of life you desire.

Come and join our team….Come live, work and play where others only vacation. Make a difference. Love your work. Apply today!

Qualfications
Education, Training and Experience:

• Master’s student in Environmental Science, Public Health, Planning, Business Administration, Evaluation, etc.

Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to review scientific and grey (i.e. reports) literature.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills (including the creation of visual tools and compelling presentations).
• Familiarity with collecting, organizing and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data.
• Critical thinking, ability to assess complex systems, identify gaps and propose solutions.
• Experience working in multidisciplinary teams and/or collaboratively with partners from multiple sectors.
• Experience with process and/or system evaluation, quality improvement.
• Adaptive thinking to address any challenges that may be encountered during the project.

*While not mandatory, familiarity with health systems, emergency management and/or preparedness, climate resilience, and evaluation science will be a valuable addition to this project.