Speaker
Description
Introduction
By crossing ecological boundaries and insufficient political agenda to protect the earth’s climate and biodiversity, the Anthropocene drives the earth into an uninhabitable planet. Despite years of efforts to raise understanding of Planetary Health and other holistic concepts that recognise human, animal, environmental, and ecosystem health as interdependent, urgently needed political and cultural change remains absent. A particularly large burden to respond to climate crisis-related consequences weighs on primary healthcare practitioners. At the same time, Planetary Health is not yet integral to health- and medical training programs.
Objectives/Methods
Mixed-methods identify Ghana’s and Germany’s most relevant climate-sensitive health threats and their adaptation and mitigation capacities. A cross-sectional survey collects data on knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) and potential influencing factors among first-responding healthcare practitioners. The survey categories include Planetary Health dynamics, practices to mitigate and address climate-sensitive health threats, and threat perception.
Outcomes
Practical information on factors and barriers encouraging healthcare professionals to promote climate action, more sustainable lifestyles, and increased awareness of the climate crisis and health can influence cultural and political change. Investigating potential cues to action that affect KAP scores will guide policy and training recommendations to increase structural public health promotion. For the Ghanaian region, we specify which of the included health professional groups are most suitable for delivering climate-sensitive health counselling and which medium of knowledge transfer should be utilised.
Keywords
Planetary Health; Climate-Sensitive Health Counselling; Primary Healthcare
