Abstract:Climate change is a well-recognized threat to human health with impacts on every organ system and with implications for disease processes across subspecialties. Climate-driven environmental exposures influence the pathophysiologic underpinnings of disease emphasized in the pre-clinical years of medical school. While medical schools are beginning to offer climate change and health electives, medical education is lagging in providing fundamental climate-and-health content to adequately prepare the next generatio… Show more
“…Climate change and health equity policies can also be advanced through direct advocacy efforts [ 120 ]. There are multiple examples of advocacy leading to institutional policy change including student-led advocacy to divest from fossil fuels at Historically Black Colleges and Universities [ 121 ], Harvard [ 122 ], and the University of Minnesota [ 123 ], medical students advocating for the inclusion of climate change in their educational curriculum [ 124 ], and nurses advocating to reduce the environmental footprint within their healthcare systems [ 125 ]. These institutional efforts can influence market forces, which is especially important for system-level changes in fossil fuel consumption, where market prices fail to reflect the true cost of use [ 126 ].…”
Section: A Call To Action For Behavioral Medicinementioning
Climate change is the greatest threat to global health in human history. It has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization and leading researchers from academic institutions around the globe. Structural racism disproportionately exposes communities targeted for marginalization to the harmful consequences of climate change through greater risk of exposure and sensitivity to climate hazards and less adaptive capacity to the health threats of climate change. Given its interdisciplinary approach to integrating behavioral, psychosocial, and biomedical knowledge, the discipline of behavioral medicine is uniquely qualified to address the systemic causes of climate change-related health inequities and can offer a perspective that is currently missing from many climate and health equity efforts. In this article, we summarize relevant concepts, describe how climate change and structural racism intersect to exacerbate health inequities, and recommend six strategies with the greatest potential for addressing climate-related health inequities.
“…Climate change and health equity policies can also be advanced through direct advocacy efforts [ 120 ]. There are multiple examples of advocacy leading to institutional policy change including student-led advocacy to divest from fossil fuels at Historically Black Colleges and Universities [ 121 ], Harvard [ 122 ], and the University of Minnesota [ 123 ], medical students advocating for the inclusion of climate change in their educational curriculum [ 124 ], and nurses advocating to reduce the environmental footprint within their healthcare systems [ 125 ]. These institutional efforts can influence market forces, which is especially important for system-level changes in fossil fuel consumption, where market prices fail to reflect the true cost of use [ 126 ].…”
Section: A Call To Action For Behavioral Medicinementioning
Climate change is the greatest threat to global health in human history. It has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization and leading researchers from academic institutions around the globe. Structural racism disproportionately exposes communities targeted for marginalization to the harmful consequences of climate change through greater risk of exposure and sensitivity to climate hazards and less adaptive capacity to the health threats of climate change. Given its interdisciplinary approach to integrating behavioral, psychosocial, and biomedical knowledge, the discipline of behavioral medicine is uniquely qualified to address the systemic causes of climate change-related health inequities and can offer a perspective that is currently missing from many climate and health equity efforts. In this article, we summarize relevant concepts, describe how climate change and structural racism intersect to exacerbate health inequities, and recommend six strategies with the greatest potential for addressing climate-related health inequities.
“…Moreover, there were two review articles, one case study, one consensus statement, one qualitative study, one report of a workshop and one global survey included in this review. Out of 33 included articles, the ongoing or suggested inclusion of PH for medical curriculum was mentioned in 14 articles [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ] and nurses were the target group in 6 articles [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Guzmán and colleagues have drafted the overarching PH education framework [ 3 ], which needs to be followed by the educators, students, leaders and mentors from all disciplines including the healthcare profession.…”
The emerging concept of planetary health needs to be discussed in a more organized and sustainable way within the global public health and healthcare disciplines. Therefore, planetary health should be considered a cardinal component of the global academic framework for healthcare professionals. The availability of related curricula and courses is crucial to equip health professionals in this relatively new discipline of planetary health. In this review article, we aimed to explore published articles and online databases of courses to summarize the available planetary health education opportunities and discussions for health professionals, to identify the gaps in resource allocation and to suggest future recommendations. We observed a visible resource inequity in the global south with the lack of a universal planetary health module for healthcare professionals. Additionally, there is minimal inclusion of allied health disciplines in this learning process. We therefore recommend a dedicated network of motivated healthcare professionals and regional hubs with an agenda to ensure a comprehensive, uniform, and inclusive planetary health education curriculum and practice.
“…A 2019 New England Journal of Medicine interactive perspective provides a useful open access resource in that direction (33). More recently, Emory University students and staff reported their experience in the incorporation of climate content into the pre-clinical, pathophysiology centred medical school curriculum (34). Whilst their report includes some examples of climate change-organ-system linkages and learning objectives, it is neither systematic in process nor pedagogically structured under one or other of the preceding international frameworks.…”
PurposeWithin the context of a review of a Doctor of Medicine graduate curriculum, medical students partnered with faculty staff to co-develop a novel curriculum resource exemplifying the integration of planetary determinants of health into existing medical curricula.MethodWe undertook qualitative methodologies involving a planetary health literature review and curriculum mapping exercise in three parts between April 2018 - May 2021. In part one, a student focus group sought students’ perceptions on opportunities for climate-change related teaching. Part two involved two 5-hour workshops that mapped planetary health principles to classical organ systems-based teaching areas. Part three consisted of curriculum mapping expert review.ResultsParticipatory workshops involved 26 students and positioned students as leaders and partners in curriculum development alongside academics and clinicians. Final synthesis produced a comprehensive infographic rich document covering seven organ systems plus healthcare’s ecological footprint, the role of medical students and opportunities for applied skills and behaviours.ConclusionsThe student-staff co-production method adopted here promotes higher order relational and extended abstract reasoning by students, the ultimate task of any higher education. This approach, and the open access resource generated, provides an integrated and novel planetary health framework, supporting students to be leaders for a sustainable future.Practice Points[1]This project provides a methodology to overcome barriers to curriculum-wide integration of planetary determinants of health and a template to move beyond stand-alone planetary health workshops or population health case studies.[2]Student and educator co-development of planetary health teaching and learning resources promotes higher order relational and extended abstract reasoning by students, the ultimate task of any higher education.[3]Integrating planetary health supports emerging clinicians in all areas of medicine to be leaders for a sustainable future.
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