Co-developing a planetary health module for pediatrics: a student-led initiative with peer teaching and evaluation of planetary health literacy

Objectives

The aim of the study was to co-develop and implement a student-driven, interactive, and competence-based planetary health education (PHE) module on climate-sensitive health counselling (CSHC) in pediatrics and to evaluate pediatric planetary health literacy among medical students at a medical faculty in Germany.

Study design

This is a mixed methods study with a qualitative co-developing process of a teaching intervention in the pediatric curriculum of medical students and a pre-post evaluation. The questionnaires assessed whether the module could enhance students' planetary health literacy and evaluated its didactic design.

Methods

A teaching module titled “Child Health in Times of Planetary Crises” was co-developed, integrating insights from interviews with pediatricians practicing CSHC. Measurable learning objectives were created using Bloom's taxonomy. The module included an online course and a seminar that applied CSHC in pediatric scenarios, focussing on preventive and adaptive consultation. Pre- and post-course questionnaires assessed planetary health literacy, covering knowledge, understanding, and self-assessed competence, along with feedback on the course design. Statistical analysis included paired t-tests, Pearson correlations, and median comparisons.

Results

Students rated the module as “important”, “interesting” and “neglected in the rest of the curriculum”. Their planetary health literacy improved significantly across knowledge, comprehension of pediatrician's special responsibilities, and self-assessed competence to advise patients on adaptive and preventive measures (p < 0.01). The module's design received positive evaluation.

Conclusion

The module effectively enhanced planetary health literacy among medical students. Competence-based education on medical response strategies is essential for addressing children's vulnerability to growing health risks posed by planetary crises. We recommend integrating planetary health education into discipline-specific teaching and cross-disciplinary subjects.