Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals

The document outlines how health professionals can leverage their status as trusted messengers to drive climate action. It suggests clinical approaches like motivational interviewing to encourage plant-based diets and active transport, and professional strategies such as integrating climate change into medical curricula. It also details advocacy methods, including using media to build public support and collaborating with other organizations to influence policy-makers, citing specific Canadian examples like the coal phase-out in Alberta and the promotion of plant-based proteins in Canada's Food Guide.

• Health professionals are uniquely positioned to influence public behavior and policy because they are viewed as "credible and trusted messengers" by Canadians, who are more likely to adopt climate-positive behaviors if they perceive direct health benefits.
• Clinical engagement with patients can include protecting them from immediate risks like heat waves and wildfire smoke, as well as encouraging long-term behavioral changes such as adopting plant-based proteins and active transportation to reduce both chronic disease risk and greenhouse gas emissions.
• There is a significant gap in medical education in Canada; a 2015 survey indicated that almost no Canadian medical schools had dedicated topics on climate change and health in their curricula.
• The Health and Environment Adaptive Response Task Force (HEART), formed by the Canadian Federation of Medical Students in 2017, aims to integrate climate change into every Canadian medical school curriculum by 2020.
• Effective public advocacy for climate policy involves using simple media messages (limiting to three main points and three statistics) and combining factual health arguments with personal stories to move public opinion.
• The document highlights successful health-led advocacy in Canada, including the resolution for the Canadian Medical Association's financial firm (MD Management) to divest from fossil fuels in 2015, and efforts to accelerate the coal phase-out in Alberta.

APA

Perrotta, K., & McGushin, A. (2019). Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Module-8-FINAL-TO-UPLOAD-SOLO-APRIL-5-2019.pdf#new_tab

Chicago

Perrotta, Kim, and Alice McGushin. Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, 2019. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Module-8-FINAL-TO-UPLOAD-SOLO-APRIL-5-2019.pdf#new_tab.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Perrotta |first1=Kim |last2=McGushin |first2=Alice |title=Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals |publisher=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |date=April 2019 |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Module-8-FINAL-TO-UPLOAD-SOLO-APRIL-5-2019.pdf#new_tab |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{perrotta2019climate, author = {Perrotta, Kim and McGushin, Alice}, title = {{Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals}}, institution = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, year = {2019}, month = apr, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Module-8-FINAL-TO-UPLOAD-SOLO-APRIL-5-2019.pdf#new_tab}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }