Healthcare as a Witness

10 Jun

Air is Kin

“To all those with stubborn eyes like the olive tree who refuse to uproot never stop your defiance.”

— Haia Mohammed

The healthcare system is an infrastructure with expertise and influence beyond the abilities of the average citizen when addressing the impacts of structural injustice. It is becoming increasingly clear that doctors only addressing ill health through a medical, apolitical lens is not enough to support healing in communities experiencing structural health injustice.

In the UK, the construction on brownfield sites, red routes, landfill sites, ex-mining sites, and other industrial polluters are causing preventable poor health outcomes and deaths. Communities across the UK are coming together and protesting against the environmental and health injustices they are facing. Based on our communities, we see an opportunity within the healthcare sector. In this context, these communities need two things from healthcare professionals:

Individuals need support with their health as they strive to survive an environment of harm.
Individuals need to be listened to with care and empathy, providing an opportunity for the practitioner to “bear witness” to the injustices faced by their patient.

We are proposing “bearing witness” as a health justice strategy to support communities advocating for clean air. We think this is an effective use of time; it can be one of the most immediate actions medical professionals can take towards justice; it is also something healthcare professionals may already be doing without giving it a name.

This work was created with the support and help of Dr Joanna Dobbin and Dr Malcolm White, Dr Marie Muller, Daniel Akinola-Odusola and Araceli Camargo.

To download a pdf copy of this please use this link or read via the slideshow viewer on this page.

If you are a healthcare practitioner interested in learning more about our funded fellowship on this subject in 2027:

Fill out this form

Email araceli@thecentriclab.com about the “Healthcare as a Witness Fellowship”.

From our experience, the motivation to approach your GP often starts with some combination of you and people around you observing changes in your health. We’ve chosen to address how people interact with primary care because your GP is likely to be the first institutional recognition of your health concerns. This booklet focuses on adult health and GP appointment.

Approaching Your Child’s GP On Air Pollution-Related Health Concerns

Community Air Quality Monitoring Guide

An introductory guide to help communities experiencing the health impacts of air pollution understand if air quality monitoring is right for their health justice advocacy.

Air is Kin Methodology Lab Book

Air is Kin (AIK) is a “living lab” supporting communities exposed to air pollution (from an industrial polluter) to withstand associated poor health outcomes.

We have created an ongoing methodology that will guide our work going forward. However, this is our first year of onboarding multiple communities, which will inform how our methodology develops.

Air is Kin Health Diary Symptoms Weekly Tracker

The AIK Health Diary Symptoms Weekly Tracker is for people who prefer more structured and direct questionnaires to answer. These questions have been reviewed by community advocates, academics, and healthcare professionals to make sure that they are relevant for comfortably recording the lived experience associated with air pollution exposure.

Air is Kin Health Diary Info Guide

The AIK Health Diary Info Guide provides the purpose, use cases, and methodology for starting your own health diary that captures your air pollution related health symptoms. We recommend sharing this document and discussing it with others who share your concerns about documenting their health or may want to assist you.

Colonization, U.S. Property Law, and the Right to Pollute

This Essay explores the relationship between colonization, U.S. property law, and the right to pollute. It argues that the foundation of U.S. property law is rooted in colonization, used as a tool to genocide Native Peoples of Turtle Island and colonize Indigenous Land.

Vital Signs Exhibition: Context & Learnings

Here we share some context and learnings from exhibiting work from Air is Kin in the Vital Signs exhibition at the Science Gallery London from 2024-25.

A Case for Health Reparations

We present pathways, philosophies, and strategies for community-led healing to safeguard against air pollution.

A Declaration for Air

On 11th October 2023, 14 people, ranging from the fields of medicine, policy, law, abolition, science, data science, economics, and art gathered to declare our right to access AIR.

Who are AIR?

In current conversations about air pollution, we have grown accustomed to perceiving Air as simply the absence of pollutants. However, Air is vastly more than this. We asked Dr Jake Robinson , who is a microbial ecologist to provide an understanding of Air that is more robust, spiritual, and scientific.

A Need For an Abolitionist Strategy

How governments arrive at air pollution policies and contamination allowances are dependent on science, governmental policies, and narratives that are culturally acceptable. It is also important to consider that currently policies and laws that protect polluters are all done without community consent. Therefore, in order for us to access air that is nourishing and clean, we have to employ an abolitionist strategy.

Meet the Team

Air is Kin is a project led by a wide range of practitioners from leading university research centres, primary healthcare trusts, and grassroots campaign groups.

Air is Kin Academy

This Academy is a self-directed learning tool built as a “Miro World”. Across a number of modules and lessons you are able to be part of a connected and educated community can help move your advocacy forward at a more gentle pace. This includes its history, the science behind air pollution, how air pollution affects our bodies and minds. We have also added lessons to nourish and inspire your journey.

Drop in Sessions

These sessions are an opportunity to ask questions about the programme, ask for advice if you are facing a pollution event, or ask questions about a specific challenge you are facing.

About the Project

This is a live, working summary document of the Air is Kin Project. We are prototyping a method for working not only with communities, but also with the wider public. Science is often done behind closed doors and with little to no public knowledge or input. Whilst it is not realistic to include every single member of the public, we hope that through this document, we can keep a clear line of communication with the general public.

Josh Artus

Healthcare as a Witness

Air is Kin

Further Reading

Approaching Your GP On Air Pollution-Related Health Concerns