Public health professionals' views on climate change, advocacy, and health.

Abstract

Background: Public health professionals (PHPs) are seeing an increased impact of climate change on the physical and mental health of their communities. Diverse climate change strategies and interventions are needed to equitably protect people's health. Yet, limited information exists on U.S. health professionals' willingness to communicate with the public about climate change and act on the issue.

Methods: We used a pre-existing survey to assess the willingness of 173 PHPs to participate in climate change advocacy. Variables included beliefs, attitudes and risk perceptions of climate change, perceptions of the local impact of climate change on health, communication barriers and resources for communicating about climate change and health, and the perceived role of PHPs in mitigating climate change.

Results: Key findings included: (1) Belief in climate change is not unanimous among PHPs; (2) PHPs are worried about climate change (93.3%) and agree the issue of climate change is of personal importance (97.1%); (3) Participants are seeking resources/trainings (57.8%) on climate change (4)The main barriers of advocating for climate change are lack of time (54.3%) and knowledge (46.3%); (5)) Respondents acknowledge health impacts due to weather-related events are caused by human activities (83.2%) and (6) views of climate change are determined by willingness to advocate and take action to mitigate climate change (R² = .251; p = < .001).

Conclusions: Although the majority of PHPs believe climate change is happening, this belief is not unanimous and steadfast. Opportunities remain on how health professionals can better inform, educate, and empower others about climate change and health.