The global climate and health agenda: Australia must do more

Climate Change Adaptation Methods for Public Health Prevention in Australia: an Integrative Review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Climate change poses a serious threat to human health and well-being. Australia is not immune to the public health impacts and continues to be underprepared, putting the population health at risk. However, there is a dearth in knowledge about how the Australian public health system will address the impacts of climate change.

RECENT FINDINGS

This integrative review synthesises tools, frameworks, and guidance material suitable for climate change adaptation from a preventive public health perspective. The literature search was conducted in electronic databases MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science. Of 4507 articles identified, 19 articles met the inclusion criteria that focused on operational methods in public health and excluded the clinical context and reactive disaster response approaches. This review revealed that Australia is ill-prepared to manage climate change adverse health impacts due to ineffective adaptation strategies. The review highlights that Australia urgently requires effective adaptation strategies such as undertaking a National Adaptation Plan process and an improved understanding in managing complex health risks. Taking this action will strengthen the public health system and build health resilience especially for vulnerable populations. These findings will help understand and develop of the necessary adaptive strategies in Australia.

Reimagining consumer involvement: Resilient system indicators in the COVID-19 pandemic response in New South Wales, Australia

Background

Reflections on the response to the COVID‐19 pandemic often evoke the concept of ‘resilience’ to describe the way health systems adjusted and adapted their functions to withstand the disturbance of a crisis, and in some cases, improve and transform in its wake. Drawing from this, this study focuses on the role of consumer representatives in healthcare services in initiating changes to the way they participated in the pandemic response in the state of New South Wales in Australia.

Methods

In‐depth interviews were conducted with two cohorts of consumer representatives. Cohort A included experienced and self‐identified consumer leaders, who worked together in a COVID‐19 Consumer Leaders Taskforce; Cohort B included participants outside of this group, and purposively included consumer representatives from rural and regional areas, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Results

The pause in consumer engagement to support health service decision‐making in responding to the pandemic forced consumer representatives to consider alternative approaches to participate. Some initiated networking with each other, forming new collaborations to produce consumer‐led research and guidelines on pandemic‐related patient care. Others mobilized support from community and politicians to lobby for specific healthcare issues in their local areas.

Conclusion

The response to the COVID‐19 pandemic made visible the brittle nature of previous engagement processes of involving consumers in organizational design and governance. However, the momentum for proactive self‐organization in an unexpected crisis created space for consumer representatives to reset and reimagine their role as active partners in health services. Their ability to adapt and adjust ways of working are key assets for a resilient health system.

Patient or Public Contribution

This project is a collaborative study between academic researchers and health consumer (patient and public) representatives. It followed the principles of codesign and coresearch, whereby both consumer representatives and academic researchers contributed equally to all stages of the project. The study was cofunded by both academic institutions and consumer representative organizations.

'Green podiatry' - reducing our carbon footprints. Lessons from a sustainability panel

Background

The eyes of the world will be on COP26 as it meets in Glasgow in November, 2021. Our planet is displaying weather extremes due to climate change which cannot be ignored, and which are deleterious for people’s health. Ironically, healthcare contributes to climate change, contributing approximately 5% of carbon emissions globally. Climate change due to global warming is ‘the biggest global health threat of the 21st century’.

Main body

The Australian Podiatry Association conference held a sustainability panel, hearing perspectives of industry and science, medicine and sport, fashion, and retail. Content unified a broad planet and human health message, which is highly relevant for podiatrists. Key themes included waste as a resource, exercise as evidence-based intervention, responsibility and circular economy recycling principles for end-of-life product (footwear) purchases, and wider ethical considerations of footwear and clothing.

The Anthropocene origin of climate change requires humanity to collaborate and to live more sustainably. Innovation is essential for better energy modes, cleaner air, human health and earth care.

Green Podiatry joins the concerted activity of medical and health groups within Australia. The UK’s NHS is an exemplar in this area, having already reduced healthcare emissions by 35%, and aiming for net zero by 2045, and perhaps sooner.

Conclusion

People are increasingly concerned about climate change, and COP26 is an important and imminent meeting for human and planet health.

This commentary on Green Podiatry directs us all to lighten our carbon footprint. A final, and forthcoming commentary will outline practical ways of positively incorporating climate change communication into the clinical setting.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13047-021-00497-1.

What just happened? Student perspectives on health promotion placements during COVID-19

Issue addressed

The emergence of COVID‐19 forced the health industry to re‐imagine its role and drove Work Integrated Learning (WIL) practicums into virtual spaces, adding complexity for students in these programs. Studies documenting the impact of these outcomes as well as the student experience during these tumultuous times are few, and therefore this study investigated students’ lived experience using data sourced from personal observations and insights and subsequent analysis of their own narratives.

Methods

This qualitative study involved researchers applying a thematic analysis to online student blogs which documented their experiences as posted in the discussion forums. Recruitment resulted in a final dataset of 27 providing informed consent, representing a total 36% response rate.

Results

Several themes were identified, including: (a) a need for guidance regarding the shift from group work as assignments to teamwork as a workplace practice, (b) to further develop effective communication and technology skills, (c) learn more about productive time management and (d) further understand transitioning from student to practitioner.

Conclusions

This study affirmed that working virtually has a comparable capacity to foster positive, pre‐professional identity and thinking more as a practitioner, despite the absence of a face‐to‐face setting.

So what?

Findings revealed (a) what educators can expect now that approaches to WIL have expanded, (b) how to prepare students for more diverse experiences in circumstances requiring sudden change and (c) how to reconfigure the curriculum and procedures to provide more supportive resources for students and agencies alike.