Roles of health professionals in addressing health consequences of climate change in interprofessional education: A scoping review

Abstract

Health professionals have key roles in addressing the health consequences of climate change. Climate change is the leading public health concern of the 21st century and has implications for population health globally. Our changing climate is exacerbating health conditions with both acute consequences as well as chronic health conditions including nutrition and food security; food- and water-related challenges; vector-borne illnesses; and extreme weather outcomes that include social disruption, physical displacement, injuries and death, and mental health consequences. Greenhouse gas emissions (GGEs) are responsible for the impact on climate and health. Expanding an understanding of the impact of climate and associated deleterious health consequences is critical in health professions education and within an interprofessional framework. A scoping review methodology was conducted of peer-reviewed academic and gray literature via bibliographic databases that included MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL Complete via Ebscohost, ERIC via Ebscohost, and Google Scholar. A total of 111 articles were included in our review with 74 papers yielded that were discussion papers, 24 quantitative studies, 4 qualitative studies, 1 mixed methods paper, 1 systematic review, 3 scoping reviews,1 integrative review, 1 toolkit and 2 posters/abstracts. Thematic analysis yielded five themes: curriculum (with subthemes of environmental sustainability, climate change and health, and planetary health); knowledge, attitudes, and skills; interprofessional education; educational strategies; and content. The results of this scoping review suggest that most literature was published in the disciplines of medicine and nursing and that few papers focused on the importance of interprofessional engagement among health professionals related to climate change and associated health consequences.