Communicating on Climate Change and Health: Toolkit for Health Professionals

"Climate change presents one of the most significant global health challenges and is already negatively affecting communities worldwide."

This toolkit is designed to help health and care workers communicate about climate change and health. It was produced by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with partners to support health workers to better understand the health impacts of climate change and the co-benefits of climate action, build their confidence in communication, and strengthen their engagement with various stakeholders around climate and health issues. By empowering health and care workers to communicate about climate change and health, it seeks to ultimately drive collective action towards mitigating climate change, building resilience, and safeguarding public health.

As WHO explains, "Climate change affects health through various pathways, including extreme weather events, air pollution, food insecurity, water scarcity and the spread of infectious diseases. Heatwaves, changing weather patterns and air pollution contribute to a range of adverse health effects, including cardiovascular diseases, respiratory illnesses, mental health issues and malnutrition. Moreover, health systems face increasing strain from climate-related challenges, amplifying the urgency for action."

Healthcare workers are well placed to communicate about the relationship between climate change and health yet often lack the knowledge and confidence to do so. This toolkit was developed to fill that gap. In particular, it was developed to help healthcare workers to:

• Understand the health impacts of climate change, and how climate action delivers important health benefits;
• Build their confidence to communicate about climate change as a health professional or health worker;
• Communicate with confidence to peers, patients, clients, communities, journalists, policymakers, politicians, and other stakeholders to raise awareness and advocate for policy changes; and
• Empower their patients, clients, and communities to take measures that will help limit climate change and protect their health and wellbeing in a warming climate.

The two main sections of the toolkit consist of the following chapters:

Why health professionals should talk about climate change

• Health effects of climate change
• Climate change is affecting our health today
• Climate action is an opportunity to improve health and wellbeing
• Health professionals can be effective champions for climate solutions

How health professionals should talk about climate change

• Before you start talking, consider your audience and goal
• 10 top tips of climate-health communication
• Case study #1: Flooding conversations in Colombia
• Sample messages around climate change
• Effective storytelling is effective communication
• Case study #2: Ella's Law
• Some common communication challenges - and how to avoid them
• Where does this all lead?