Safety Skills Research Articles

Reporting Safely in Crisis Zones: Medical First Response for Journalists and Filmmakers

Introduction:Journalists work in dangerous places. In recent years, the risk of illness and injury while reporting has increased, whether in the setting of conflict, protest, extreme weather, or environmental disaster. Journalists are targeted more than ever before. Working safely in remote and dangerous settings, especially without the protection of a large organization, requires a wide range of skills related to safety and security. For several years, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University has offered brief, intensive courses focused on personal safety, self defense, cyber-security and medical skills for freelance journalists working in dangerous settings.Method:We re-conceptualized the medical first responder portion of the Dart Center's "Reporting from Crisis Zones" course to emphasize basic skills related to acute injury and illness, from trauma resuscitation (e.g, hemorrhage control) to environmental exposure and medical illness. We identified the most common medical concerns that these learners might encounter and incorporated feedback from prior courses to develop a one-day curriculum meant to address the most pressing needs of incidental first responders with minimal medical training, and whose primary mission is not providing medical care to others.Results:The resulting 8-10 hour curriculum focuses on hemorrhage control, basic airway and respiratory maneuvers and wound care, with additional focus on medical illness, indications for evacuation, and communication and prevention techniques. The re-structured curriculum was first offered in Spring 2022. Feedback from learners was positive.Conclusion:Basic first responder skills are critical for journalists working in dangerous settings, who represent a unique population of learners with specific needs and objectives. Next steps include developing a better understanding of the medical and traumatic problems truly encountered by this population in the field, assessing the long-term educational impact of the course, and developing ongoing opportunities to reinforce learning via online resources, refresher sessions, and guideline development.

Qualitative Perspectives of Emergency Nurses on Electronic Health Record Behavioral Flags to Promote Workplace Safety

Emergency nurses experience high levels of workplace violence during patient interactions. Little is known about the efficacy of behavioral flags, which are notifications embedded within electronic health records (EHRs) as a tool to promote clinician safety. To explore the perspectives of emergency nurses on EHR behavioral flags, workplace safety, and patient care. In this qualitative study, semistructured interviews were conducted with emergency nurses at an academic, urban emergency department (ED) between February 8 and March 25, 2022. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Data analysis was performed from April 2 to 13, 2022. Themes and subthemes of nursing perspectives on EHR behavioral flags were identified. This study included 25 registered emergency nurses at a large academic health system, with a mean (SD) tenure of 5 (6) years in the ED. Their mean (SD) age was 33 (7) years; 19 were women (76%) and 6 were men (24%). Participants self-reported their race as Asian (3 [12%]), Black (3 [12%]), White (15 [60%]), or multiple races (2 [8%]); 3 participants (12%) self-reported their ethnicity as Hispanic or Latinx. Five themes (with subthemes) were identified: (1) benefits of flags (useful advisory; prevents violence; engenders compassion), (2) issues with flags (administrative and process issues; unhelpful; unenforceable; bias; outdated), (3) patient transparency (patient accountability; damages patient-clinician relationship), (4) system improvements (process; built environment; human resources; zero-tolerance policies), and (5) difficulties of working in the ED (harassment and abuse; unmet mental health needs of patients; COVID-19-related strain and burnout). In this qualitative study, nursing perspectives on the utility and importance of EHR behavioral flags varied. For many, flags served as an important forewarning to approach patient interactions with more caution or use safety skills. However, nurses were skeptical of the ability of flags to prevent violence from occurring and noted concern for the unintended consequences of introducing bias into patient care. These findings suggest that changes to the deployment and utilization of flags, in concert with other safety interventions, are needed to create a safer work environment and mitigate bias.

Current Situation on the Management of Educating Body Safety Skills for Children Aged 5-6 Years Old at Preschools in Hanoi

This article focuses on providing an analysis of the current situation of educating body safety skills for 5-6-year-old children at preschools in Hanoi. The research results demonstrate that, despite variations in the assessment from administrators and teachers, the management of educating body safety skills for 5-6-year-old children at preschools is, on the whole, being carried out to a satisfactory level. Nonetheless, the research findings indicate that the implementation of management content in this domain still lacks periodic comparison, contrast, review, supplementation, and adjustment of educational programs. Additionally, the criteria for evaluating the quality of educational methods, managing and assessing the teaching practices of body safety skills for 5-6-year-old children, and the collection of feedback from parents regarding the practice of physical safety in the family and society are not at an optimal level. These research results are essential for the key management subjects involved in the implementation of body safety education activities for 5-6-year-old children at preschools. They offer an empirical basis for identifying suitable and effective management measures to enhance the quality of body safety education for 5-6-year-old children at preschools in Hanoi during the current phase.

Current Situation on the Management of Educating Body Safety Skills for Children Aged 5-6 Years Old at Preschools in Hanoi

Current Situation on the Management of Educating Body Safety Skills for Children Aged 5-6 Years Old at Preschools in Hanoi

Simulation-based training program on patient safety management: A quasi-experimental study among new intensive care unit nurses

BackgroundPatient safety is an essential responsibility of nurses. However, newly graduated nurses experience patient safety incidents due to a lack of patient safety competency. In particular, intensive care unit nurses provide care to critical patients, making it difficult for new nurses to maintain patient safety. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the patient safety competency of newly graduated nurses working in the intensive care unit. ObjectivesTo analyze the effects of a simulation-based training program on patient safety management on the patient safety competency, patient safety management activity, communication self-efficacy, and teamwork of newly graduated nurses working in an intensive care unit. DesignA quasi-experimental study. SettingsThe study was conducted at a university in Korea. ParticipantsA total of 44 newly graduated nurses working in the intensive care unit of a university hospital. MethodsA simulation-based training program on patient safety management was applied to the experimental group (n = 22), while only the usual hospital training program was used for the control group (n = 22). A structured questionnaire survey comprising Patient Safety Competency Self-Evaluation, Patient Safety Management Activities, the Korean version of the self-efficacy questionnaire, and K-self assessment of teamwork was conducted at baseline test (T1), post test (T2), and follow-up test (T3). Data were analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA. ResultsThe experimental group showed significantly higher patient safety competency, patient safety knowledge, and patient safety skills, along with higher communication self-efficacy scores than the control group (p < .05) after the intervention and at four weeks after the intervention. ConclusionsThe simulation-based training program on patient safety management effectively improved the patient safety competency, patient safety knowledge, and patient safety skills as well as communication self-efficacy of newly graduated nurses working in an intensive care unit.

Personal Safety Skills as a Prevention of Sexual Violence in Adolescent Women

Sexual violence has become a global concern. The number of sexual violence is statistically more dominantly experienced by women. Young women need to have the ability to prevent sexual violence. The purpose of this study was to identify the personal safety skills of young women. This research is a quantitative descriptive study with a survey approach. The research sample was 150 young women using a sampling technique in the form of stratified random sampling. Research respondents were divided based on educational strata, ranging from junior high school (SMP), high school (SMA), and college (PT). Each stratum is represented by 50 young women. The research was conducted at SMPN 1 Kalisat, SMK Bangsalsari, and dr. Soebandi. The three research sites are located in Jember Regency. Collecting data using a research instrument in the form of a personal safety skill questionnaire. The results showed that in personal safety skills, some of the recognize indicators were lacking (53.3%), the resist indicators were partly good (56.0%), and the report indicators were partly lacking (55.3%). Personal safety skills in young women can be taught by involving various parties, such as teachers and parents. Personal safety skills if developed properly can keep young women away from perpetrators of sexual violence

Evaluating parent‐implemented behavioral skills training for teaching firearm safety skills

AbstractResearch shows that behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) are effective interventions for teaching safety skills to children. In addition, the efficiency of these interventions can be increased when parents, teachers, or peers are taught to implement them. The purpose of this study was to replicate Novotny et al. (2020) and evaluate a web‐based program for teaching parents to conduct BST to teach safety skills to prevent gunplay. We randomly assigned 18 children to the parent‐conducted BST group or a control group and evaluated the intervention in a posttest only control group design. Children in the control group or treatment group who did not score a three in the in situ assessment (do not touch, get away, and tell an adult) received IST from their parents and were assessed again. Results showed that safety skill scores were statistically significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant increase in safety skills scores following IST for children who received it.

Analysis of Factors Related to Near Miss among Nurses

Introduction: Nurses are an important human resource in hospital health services with a high-risk workplace that can cause accidents or occupational diseases. This study aims to analyze the relationship between near-miss knowledge, occupational health and safety skill, and work equipment with the occurrence of near-miss among nurses. Method: This research used a cross-sectional design. The population of this study was nurses in Ploso Regional Public Hospital. The samples were chosen using the purposive sampling method with a number of 53 nurses out of 56 population of nurses with consideration of safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. The independent variables were near-miss knowledge, occupational health and safety skill, and work equipment. The dependent variable was the occurrence of the near-miss. The data was collected using questionnaires. The data analysis technique used was the Pearson correlation test. Result: The result of the questionnaire showed most of the samples had high near-miss knowledge, high occupational health and safety skill, and good work equipment. The occurrence of near-miss among the nurses was mostly medium. The Pearson correlation test result showed that the correlation of near-miss knowledge was weak, occupational health and safety skill were fairly strong, and work equipment was weak. Conclusion: The relationship between near-miss knowledge with the occurrence of near-miss has a weak correlation with positive direction, the relationship between occupational health and safety skills and the occurrence of near-miss has a fairly strong correlation with negative direction, and the relationship between work equipment and the occurrence of near-miss has a weak correlation with negative direction.

Safety and Health in the Workplace

Abstract: Every human endeavor has a reasonable reason to be concerned about health and safety. For the safety of the teaching staff to be ensured in schools, the equipment already in place must be properly maintained, and any missing pieces must be installed in accordance with health and safety regulations. This article presents the results of a survey on the health and safety of secondary school teachers in the area, with an emphasis on the Mbooni West district. Many secondary school administrators do not take the teaching staff's suggestions for policies and procedures to reduce safety threats into account. The teaching staff finds it challenging to assume responsibility for their own safety as a result. Thus, the study aimed to determine instructors' perceptions on their responsibility in protecting workplace health and safety. All teachers and assistant principals employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Secondary Schools Board of Management were the focus of the investigation (BOM). Although survey principles were a goal of the study, they weren't accessible at the time of data collection. The descriptive research design was used for this investigation. Data was collected using a questionnaire guide, and version 20 of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for analysis. For data display, frequency tables and charts were used. The results showed that the majority of the teaching staff did not participate in training programmers that would have given them occupational safety skills. The majority of them did not participate in discussions about workplace safety regulations. This seriously compromised the safety of instructors at work, impairing their readiness to deal with health dangers and, consequently, their overall performance. In order to integrate teachers' safety policies with the institutions strategic plans for workplace health and safety, it is advised that the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology coordinate training programmers for the teaching staff with the school administrations.

Teaching Students With a Mild Intellectual Disability to Respond to Strangers Using Computer-Based Video Instruction

Computer-based video instruction (CBVI) has been effective in teaching students with disabilities various health, community, and safety skills. Research suggests that CBVI is often used in conjunction with community-based instruction (CBI). Frequently, students with severe disabilities or students who are of high school age participate in CBI and/or CBVI and its accompanying research. This study investigated the effectiveness of CBVI to teach students with a mild ID, ages 11–13, appropriate responses to lures from strangers. A single-case, multiple probe across participants design was used to examine the impact of CBVI on one dependent variable, a correct two-step response (verbal and motor) to a lure from a stranger. The two-step response was adapted from the Akmanoglu &amp; Tekin-Iftar (2011) study investigating responses to strangers. Data indicated that CBVI had a positive impact on all four participants. Participants also maintained the skill (up to 5 weeks) and generalized to a novel setting. Parents and teachers involved in the study also reported positive opinions regarding the aim and outcomes of the study. Implications for practice and for future research are provided.

Nutrition Capacity Assessment of Agriculture Extension Services in Nigeria.

Achieving meaningful malnutrition reductions in Nigeria and other high-burden countries requires sustained improvements in diets, mediated through nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems. Yet, the capacity to design, plan, implement, and monitor such nutrition-sensitive systems is very limited, including within agricultural extension services delivery. Understanding existing capacity of actors required to implement nutrition change is crucial for effective capacity development. This study assessed the nutrition capacity of agriculture extension agents (AEAs) in Nigeria and the capacity of their organizations and the institutions within which they operate. The study assessed 31 extension training materials for inclusion of recommendations for nutrition-sensitive agriculture. Structured interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 23 extension agents and were coded and analyzed for major themes. Training materials hardly included nutrition objectives and or nutrition-related services to be delivered. Some nutrition-related services were being delivered, including promotion of biofortified crops and nutrient-dense crops and animals, home gardening, food safety, and dietary diversification. However, these services were limited, and service delivery was unstructured, nonuniform, and inconsistent. Numbers of AEAs are quite inadequate while available AEAs had high workloads, are poorly motivated, and had limited funding, supervision, and logistics capacity to perform roles. Physical security was also a challenge for service delivery. Further, complementary activities in other sectors that were necessary for adequate delivery of nutrition-sensitive agriculture did not always exist. Extensive development of nutrition capacities of extension agents appears unlikely to achieve nutrition-related changes if limiting institutional and organizational capacity deficits are not addressed. Capacity of Agriculture Extension Agents in Nigeria to Deliver Nutrition Services. Reducing the significant burden of malnutrition in Nigeria requires increased availability and consumption of foods that are nutritious and free from harmful substances. To produce such foods, farmers need adequate nutrition and food safety knowledge and skills. The production of such food will also need to support nutrition in other ways, including increased women's empowerment. Extension agents traditionally support farmers to adopt new methods of food production and/or processing that support increased food yields. These agents can also be used to deliver services that will address nutrition if they have the necessary knowledge and skills. This study assessed the capacity of agriculture extension agents in Nigeria to deliver nutrition services, in order to determine how to increase their capacity to deliver these services. The results from the study are that the extension agents do not have sufficient knowledge and skills to deliver nutrition services, and that their organizations and the wider context in which they work do not have the capacity to enable them to deliver nutrition services effectively. For instance, the organizations do not have sufficient numbers of staff and do not provide current staff with adequate means of transportation to visit farmers. Insecurity is high and so extension agents are unable to visit farmers frequently because of the potential threats to their lives. The study concludes that effectively using extension agents to deliver nutrition services will require not just training of the extension agents but also improvements in organizational capacity and contextual factors.

The get personal application to improve personal safety skills in children

Sexual crime comprises child sexual abuse, grouping, rape, or the torture of a person in a sexual manner. Recently, sexual crimes have posed a threat to children in Indonesia. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Get Personal application in enhancing children's personal safety skills against sexual crime. A pre-post control group design was utilized with a quasi-experimental approach. Twenty-two elementary school pupils who participated in the study were split into experimental and control groups, with the experimental group receiving the Get Personal application treatment. The personal safety skills scale was utilized to obtain the pretest and posttest data. The data were analyzed by independent sample t-test and paired sample t-test. Significant differences were found in the results of personal safety skills in the pretest and posttest scores in the experimental group, while the control group didn’t indicate any difference. Following the paired t-test, individuals in the experimental group demonstrated a significant difference between the means of the pretest and posttest, with the posttest’s mean score being higher than the pretest’s mean score. Therefore, the Get Personal application improves children's personal safety skills and may apply to enhance personal safety skills among children.

Identifying methods to best integrate indigenous knowledge and perspectives within the radiation therapy undergraduate curriculum.

The Australian healthcare system continues to work towards close the gap to improve and achieve equality in health and life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. When culturally safe practice is forefront, it may be the driving force in improving Indigenous Australian healthcare outcomes. For students and practitioners to be equipped with the industry-required cultural safety skills, we believe Indigenous Australian knowledge and perspectives must be effectively integrated into undergraduate education. A scoping review of the literature was conducted to identify the most effective teaching and learning methods and assessment tools to best integrate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into undergraduate radiation therapy curriculum at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Embase, CINAHL, Scopus and PubMed-Medline were searched to access peer-reviewed studies published between 2017 and 2022. A total of 591 articles were identified with 39 full-text articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Methods of teaching and learning and independent assessment tools that promote cultural capability in undergraduate education were identified. Findings included intensive patient-specific workshops, which were reported to provide students with an immersive learning experience, better preparing them for clinical placements and future practice. Additionally, other allied healthcare professions have utilised tools such as the Cultural Capability Management Tool (CCMT) and Trans-Cultural Self-Efficacy Tool (TSET) to quantitatively assess positive shifts and highlight developmental needs. These findings will inform current educational endeavours to promote cultural safety and the cultural capability continuum in the undergraduate radiation therapy curriculum.

Promoting Prescription Drug Safety Skills in School: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Technology-Based Curriculum

BackgroundPrescription drug misuse among youth aged 12–18 remains high in the United States. Grounded in Social Norms Theory, school-based curricula have been shown to effectively challenge students’ misperceptions of peer norms and safety regarding prescription drug misuse (PDM).ObjectiveThe present study is a quasi-experimental evaluation of a brief, no cost, school-based prescription drug safety program.MethodsParticipants included 94 teachers and their students (n = 2325) in grades 8 through 12. Teachers (and their students) were assigned to experimental or control conditions. Using a pre-/post-survey design, we examined whether the curriculum promoted growth in five key student outcomes: Personal Responsibility, Social Norms, Knowledge, Future Actions, and Refusal Skills. Student demographic characteristics and prescription drug history were examined as moderators of growth. Within the experimental group, variation in implementation factors such as teachers’ prior experience with the program and perceptions of student engagement were examined as moderators of the effectiveness of the curriculum.ResultsMultilevel models demonstrated equitable growth in Personal Responsibility, Social Norms, Knowledge, Future Actions, and Refusal Skills across gender, race, and other demographic characteristics. Students’ prescription drug history was not associated with growth on the five key outcomes. Growth in Personal Responsibility, Social Norms, Knowledge, and Future Actions was maintained in a one-month follow-up survey. Teacher perceptions of student engagement were associated with lower growth in Social Norms.ConclusionsThe findings suggest promising implications for the scalability of an effective, brief, no cost, technology-based intervention targeting adolescent PDM.

The Reality of Middle School (Intermediate) Female Students in Saudi Arabia and the Practice of 21st-Century Skills: Teachers’ Perspective

The skills that were considered necessary for success in the 21st century included the ability to improve social and intellectual abilities such as communication, cooperation, critical thinking, and problem-solving, as well as creativity and innovation. It also contains methods of working, interacting, cooperating, and working in teams so that they can encourage and support skills relevant to the 21st century, such as literacy, information technology, and digital networks. Thus, this study aims to know the reality of middle school (intermediate) pupils in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia about putting the skills of the 21st century into practice. The researcher employed the descriptive survey approach in her work, and the study tool (questionnaire) was used on a random sample composed of middle school (intermediate) teachers (female) in the Al-Qassim region. The following are some of the major results of the study: The use of technology by the middle school (intermediate) female students efficiently and effectively garnered a high response rate from the study participants. However, the intermediate students’ skills in information, media and technology culture, health and safety skills, and self-leadership put into practice earned an average response rate from the study participants. There were statistically significant differences in the study, which favored higher education qualifications and the attendance of training courses relevant to the “skills of the 21st century,” with no statistically significant differences for the more years of experience. The study advised that material and moral motivation tactics should be utilized as it is of essential relevance and required for the leaders of schools to urge them on new leadership practices.

Rethinking: Women's Political Rights, Digital Safety, and Election

The position of equality in political rights is still being studied seriously and is full of pros and cons in various countries. Straightening the role of women's rights in politics is extensive homework for this nation. Even in today's conditions, the representation of women in the political sphere at the beginning of the struggle was unacceptable to male politicians and the public. The literature review aims to rethink the relationship between women's political rights, digital safety skills, and general elections. All three have a common thread for measuring the existence of women in the political realm. This condition can be seen from the role of women as political actors who run for office, as well as women as owners of voting rights in general elections. Both can be viewed as subjects and objects in general elections to restore the spirit of democracy in Indonesia. The answer to the above problems is establishing digital safety as a digital literacy ecology. The need for this condition refers to women's political struggle to get crucial political affirmation.

A review on safety knowledge and skills for reducing human error and accidents in construction

Human error remains a significant contributor to construction accidents, highlighting the importance of human factors in construction safety management. Possessing appropriate knowledge and skills is critical for workers in this regard. Safety knowledge enables workers to identify hazard, prevent, reduce, and eliminate potential accidents. On the other hand, safety skills are necessary for worker to carry out their task and responsibilities safely. The absence of either knowledge or skills can result in human error and construction accidents. This literature review aims to identify the various types of safety knowledge and skills that can help reduce construction human error and accidents. Through the analysis of several articles, the review found that safety regulation and accident record are essential safety knowledge, while hazard identification, communication, and leadership are crucial safety skills that can reduce construction human error and accidents.

Connectivism Theory in Safety and Health Education in Classical Universities

Planet Earth, humanity in general and the education system in particular, in the first quarter of the XXI century have faced a large number of problems and situations that require regulation. The use of modern technologies based on connectivism theory in the study of health and safety issues within classical (non-medical) higher education institutions in Ukraine is relevant. The aim of the article was to test the effectiveness of using online learning, e-learning, as well as open educational resources, distance learning technologies based on connectivism theory in teaching health and safety issues in classical universities. The Internet has now become a huge collaborative learning space. In today’s dynamic theory of learning «connectivism», it is the Internet that has become the main link. Connectivism is a conceptual framework that sees learning as a networked phenomenon influenced by technology and socialisation and learning as a process of pattern recognition. Connectivism emphasises the need to consider, if possible, all the changes that took place yesterday in order to realise new knowledge today and in the future. In the context of safety and health, the need to learn from yesterday’s life experiences to ensure health and safety today and in the future becomes relevant. The article substantiates how connectivism theory can be used to explore issues of safety and health. Many forms of implementation of technologies combining e-learning and open educational services to build a blended learning system in higher education are provided. The first accessible and open educational resource (distance learning course) «My Health» was created to implement quality learning on safety and health issues. The course also uses technology to combine e-learning and open educational services of the educational platforms Coursera, Khanacademy, Canvas, Udemy and Eliademy. Studying health and safety issues based on connectivism theory was implemented using social media; the use of gamification techniques involved performing tasks and exercises and turning them into a competitive game to make learning more interactive. Sites with simulations of different processes engaged students in deep learning that promoted understanding, as opposed to superficial learning that required only memorization. A post-study survey of both full-time and part-time students showed an increase in academic achievement with the use of e-learning based on connectivism theory. At the same time, the authors draw attention to the need for offline work to build sustainable practical skills in safety and health. A promising direction remains the development of educational platforms and introduction of open educational services and E-learning in professional training of specialists in other fields of science, creation of high-quality open Ukrainian distance learning courses and services worthy of international level, as well as introduction of mass interactive courses on a modern open Internet platform.

A Needs Assessment Survey of Division Chiefs at an Academic Children's Hospital.

The Division Chief at an academic health sciences centre has many leadership roles and responsibilities. There are no data on leadership training needs for Division Chiefs, and so we sought to design and implement a needs assessment for pediatric Division Chiefs at CHEO, a pediatric academic health sciences centre in Eastern Ontario, Canada. A needs assessment survey was developed with the aim to document demographics, preparedness for the role of Division Chief and desired leadership training for the role. This survey was piloted, revised and then distributed to all the Division Chiefs at our institution. The results of each question were collated, and simple descriptive statistics were calculated. The survey was completed by 22 of 31 Division Chiefs. The majority of respondents were from the Department of Pediatrics (63.6%), followed by Surgery (20%), Psychiatry (3.3%) and Laboratory Medicine (3.3%). Their mean length of time as Division Chief was 5.5 years. Seventy-seven percent had concurrent leadership roles in addition to the role of Division Chief. None felt they were very well prepared for the role, five felt they were somewhat well prepared, nine were neutral, five were somewhat unprepared and three were very unprepared for the role. Half of the respondents received mentoring, either formal or informal, for their role and all but one felt that formal mentoring would have been useful. In terms of desired training, the Division Chiefs felt they had the most knowledge and skills in patient safety. All wanted training in developing divisional budgets, and many desired training in supporting the academic mission of the Division. Overall, this needs assessment identified an unmet need for leadership training and development among Division Chiefs. The findings are being used to optimize onboarding of Division Chiefs and an ongoing leadership development program targeted at this group.

Living on the margins: Climate change impacts and adaptation by remote communities living in the Pacific Islands, the Himalaya and desert Australia

The latest IPCC assessment reports (2021, 2022 and 2023) confirm the devastating impacts of climate change are being felt with increasing frequency and intensity, with these impacts causing profound changes in the livelihoods of remote communities. People who are heavily dependent on agriculture, fisheries and forestry are particularly impacted, with risks and vulnerabilities increasing. These communities are already adapting their livelihoods, yet they often face constrained access to critical information, social safety nets, knowledge and skills, and technology, for effective adaptation to climate change. More importantly, they are typically outside the mainstream decision making and socio-economic structures that provide vital support during times of crisis. This article synthesizes analysis of the climate change impacts on, and adaptation by, remote communities living in very different environments – the tropical islands of the South Pacific, the mountains of the Himalaya in Nepal, and the deserts of central Australia. The authors’ analysis informs discussion about the limitations and strengths of local adaptation by remote communities and what strategies can support them build resilience.