Abstract
Background:Communication about climate change is critical in addressing the greatest public health challenge of our time. Public health professionals must convey the human implications of climate change and educating populations regarding climate change as a threat to the health and wellbeing of people globally. Effective communication to engage individuals, communities, and populations is critical to debate as we focus on the most urgent public health problem of our time.Objective:Public health professionals are aware of the deleterious health consequences related to climate change; however, key segments of the population are not. This paper addressed key concepts related to climate change communication.Methods:Databases were searched including PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus from 2015 to 2020 to obtain the most recent relevant literature using search terms that included climate change, climate communication, climate action, and climate change engagement.Findings:Climate change communication as viewed through the lens of Six Americas—a national survey that categorized people regarding their beliefs about climate change from those who are Dismissive, Doubtful, Disengaged, Cautious, Concerned, or Alarmed is a valid perspective for engaging populations in climate communication and climate action.Conclusions:Using the framework developed by the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, we suggest that adopting this framework from a US perspective to a global perspective and surveying across countries and context is imperative to advance global understanding of the impact of climate change on health.
Highlights
Communication about climate change is critical in addressing the greatest public health challenge of our time
Findings from the Yale Communication Project in partnership with the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication [2, 4] suggest that the American public underestimates how many other Americans think global warming1 is happening; they underestimate the social consensus on global warming—a fact that yields opportunities for health care providers to engage in climate and health discussions
They note that Americans on average estimate that only 54% of other Americans think that global warming is happening; the surveys suggest that 69% of Americans do
Summary
Communication about climate change is critical in addressing the greatest public health challenge of our time. Effective communication to engage individuals, communities, and populations is critical to debate as we focus on the most urgent public health problem of our time. Objective: Public health professionals are aware of the deleterious health consequences related to climate change; key segments of the population are not. Despite recent political challenges related to addressing climate change, the public health community is galvanized to engage in safeguarding the health of the world’s people and alleviating the suffering related to the deleterious climate-related health consequences that are emerging [1]. Knowing thy audience is critical in engaging health professionals in understanding the intersection of climate and health, as well as galvanizing provider engagement in education with patients, families, communities, and populations
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