Clinicians Are Interested in Climate Change Education

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 14, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Most clinicians show positive attitudes toward education in climate change, according to a study published online Aug. 8 in JAMA Network Open.

Wynne Armand, M.D., from the Center for the Environment and Health at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues evaluated whether a quality incentive program measure for clinicians changed their perceived knowledge about climate change’s health impacts and health care sustainability. The analysis included 2,417 clinicians who completed a survey.

The researchers reported that 73.1 percent of participants thought the modules were relevant or very relevant to their lives and 65.4 percent found the modules relevant or very relevant to their clinical practice. There was no association between age and responses. Compared with participants in non-climate-facing specialties, practitioners in specialties classified as climate-facing were more likely to think that the education was relevant to their clinical practice. Women were also more likely to consider this education as relevant to their clinical practice versus male practitioners.

"The findings of this study indicate that tailored strategies may engage clinicians in learning about climate change’s health effects and mitigation of health care sector contributions," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

Abstract/Full Text