Core Competencies for Health Workers to Deal with Climate and Environmental Change

Paul Jagals and Kristie Ebi
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Paul Jagals: Children’s Health and Environment Program, University of Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
Kristie Ebi: Departments of Global Health and of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98199, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Rapid, detrimental climate change and environmental degradation pose real threats to the health, environment, social, economic and technological wellbeing of society (HESET). It has become even more imperative that the health workforce (public health and medical healthcare as well as auxiliary and support workers) be ‘climate-environment’ competent to fulfil their role in managing the environmental public health risks and impacts as climate and environment inevitably continue to change. We developed a broad six-domain competency framework consisting of (1) climate and environment sciences, (2) drivers of climate change (3) evidence, projections and assessments (4) iterative risk management (5) mitigation, adaptation and health co-benefits and (6) collective strategies—harnessing international/regional/local agreements and frameworks. The framework can be used by health/medical trainers to design cross-sectoral sub-competencies and learning content for training health workers to function at local, regional and global levels. Reaching, maintaining and improving the different levels of competency, the health workforce will be increasingly invaluable partners in intra- as well as inter-sectoral responses to climate and environmental risks and impacts.

Keywords: health workforce; core competencies; climate change; environmental change; HESET; environmental-public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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