Climate and Health for Healthcare Professions

Course Overview

What are the ways that climate change impacts human health? How can healthcare professionals support patients and communities to adapt to a changing climate? This short course explores the deep and complex connections between climate change and health for individuals and communities. By completing this course, students, trainees, practicing healthcare professionals and administrators will learn how to integrate climate awareness into their daily practice to inform and protect their patients and communities. While knowledge of human health is helpful, this is an introductory course with no required prerequisites. Climate change is the greatest threat to health in the 21st century, and it worsens existing inequities of health, security, and wellbeing. We’ll begin by addressing how human activity threatens planetary systems that support human health. We’ll then discuss the irony of how health systems, responsible for protecting health, also make these processes worse. To learn how to support patients and communities dealing with the impacts of climate change, you'll hear from a diverse group of healthcare experts who are already engaged in climate change and sustainability work. By the end of this course, you’ll gain skills to advocate for systems-level changes to mitigate climate change and support local resilience and adaptation. You’ll be given opportunities to think about how the concepts of this course can be applied to your own professional or personal context — no matter where you are in your healthcare career. By engaging with the intersection between climate and health, you will be more fully equipped to support your patients, colleagues, and community to build a more sustainable healthcare system.