The combined impacts of toxic drug use and the 2021 Heat Dome in Canada: A thematic analysis of online news media articles.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

During the summer of 2021, western Canada experienced a historic and deadly extreme heat event. Simultaneously, toxic drug use and overdoses related to high-risk use of opioids and polysubstance use continued to rise across the country. However, the combined impacts of these intersecting public health crises remain poorly understood as relevant data sources are limited in Canada.

Methods

We explored news media articles (n = 86, 3%) discussing toxic drug use, overdose-related deaths and the 2021 Heat Dome which were identified in a systematic review of Canadian online news media (e.g., newspaper articles, radio broadcasts) from five subscription news databases and an extensive grey literature search (n = 2909). The analyzed articles were published before, during

SUBMITTER: Tetzlaff EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11785305 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature