INTRODUCTION

Health systems, including hospitals, are on the frontlines of climate change, bearing the costs of increasing disease burdens and more frequent extreme weather events while simultaneously inadvertently contributing to negative environmental and climate-related impacts.

The goal of this course is to equip federal, regional and local health systems planners, hospital administrators, long-term care/community care professionals, emergency planners, sustainability officers, public health officials, health practitioners, and others with the knowledge and tools needed to prepare for climate change. This includes how to apply best practices to assess health system vulnerabilities and adaptation options, measure and monitor the climate resilience and environmental sustainability of health systems, and undertake health system greening, all while integrating health equity and undertaking broad stakeholder engagement.

Health Canada, the Pan American Health Organization, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education have co-organized this course, with input from Ministries of Health and Environment and civil-society climate and health practice communities throughout the Americas.

AUDIENCE

The expected audience includes health systems planners, hospital administrators, health facility board members, long-term care/community care professionals, business continuity officers, emergency planners, sustainability officers, public health officials, health practitioners, and paramedics

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Articulate to key partners and the public the unique challenges health systems and health care facilities (including mental healthcare) face in a changing climate

• Apply methodology and frameworks for assessing vulnerability and adaptation for health systems in any context

• Apply approaches for measuring and monitoring the environmental sustainability of health systems and opportunities to green health systems

• Apply a health equity lens into efforts to address health system decarbonization and build climate resilience

• Develop an initial plan to prepare their health system organization moving forward for specific climate impacts of the region and to communicate and engage with key partners on this issue.

COURSE STRUCTURE

The course will consist of bi-weekly (Tuesday and Thursday) live-virtual 90-minute sessions, offered in English and Spanish through live interpretation. Each session will consist of 40 minutes of “theory/foundation” followed by 1-2 case studies, presenting health authority actions across the Americas. There will be a live question and answer which will be monitored by the program team and questions will be consolidated and addressed to expert lecturers. Resources such as frameworks and suggested readings will be provided to all course participants following each session. Video recordings will be available following each session for asynchronous view.

SESSION TOPICS

1) Tuesday, April 4 | Healthcare systems in a changing climate

2) Thursday, April 6 | Assessing risks to human health and health systems from climate change

3) Tuesday, April 11 | A special focus on health facilities: Assessing risks and opportunities for adaptation and resilience building

4) Thursday, April 13 | The health adaptation process: Key actors, activities, and partnerships

5) Tuesday, April 18 | Integrating health equity into efforts to address climate change

6) Thursday, April 20 | Estimating the costs of the health and health system impacts of climate change

7) Tuesday, April 25 | Opportunities and guidance for lowering the carbon footprint of health systems

8) Thursday, April 27 | Measuring, monitoring, and evaluating climate resilient health systems

9) Tuesday, May 2 | Effectively communicating climate change risks