Polling 201: utilizing public opinion research in your communications ca

There is a clear and urgent opportunity for the health sector to inform and support Americans on climate change as a matter of health. 70% of Americans have heard that climate change can affect their health. However, more Americans acknowledge the health impacts on others (69%) than themselves (46%), likely due to cognitive dissonance. Most Americans (69%) trust health professionals for climate health information and, 61% want to learn how to protect their health from adverse climate effects such as poor air quality, extreme heat, or severe storms. By disseminating accurate information and guidance across a variety of mediums (including direct conversations), the health sector can empower Americans to protect their health from climate-related risks and advocate for broader systemic changes to address climate change in inclusive, just, and equitable ways.

Emotions wheels have long been a valuable tool for psychologists to help people better understand and interpret their feelings.

Grounded in a commitment to fostering deeper understandings and connections, this theory-to-practice handbook aims to support mindful and proactive navigation of the escalating impacts of climate change on individual and community mental health and wellbeing.

The Climate Change Empowerment Handbook emphasizes psychological strategies to address climate change.

Join us for the online premiere of the short documentary version of “Proposition Amanecer,” along with a live Q&A with organizer and director Miguel Escoto, organizer and editor Monica Chavarria, and organizer and producer Ralph Martinez. This documentary tells the founding story of Amanecer People's Project through the lens of the 2023 "El Paso Climate Charter" campaign, a community written ballot measure that would have transformed El Paso's economic, health, and energy future.

Climate change has significant impacts on health outcomes, and health professionals are uniquely positioned to leverage their voice as trusted messengers to engage their colleagues, patients, and communities to take action and shift the public conversation on climate and health.

Discussing the health impacts of climate change is a critical approach for furthering medicine’s mission—to improve health and accelerate equity. Health professionals are increasingly learning how climate change is harming their patients’ health. And, unsurprisingly, most respondents to a 2020 multinational survey felt a responsibility to educate the public and policy makers. In most nations “left” or “right” political ideology is a weak predictor of support for climate taxes or laws. Health professionals can contribute to collective action by reflecting and building on the existing consensus on climate change.

Climate change increases the incidence of practically all forms of human disease. This series of lectures features field leaders in various aspects of climate change and human health, focusing on how different types of extreme weather events and patterns cause both acute, and chronic, morbidities and mortality. Scientists, clinicians and public health policy experts to generate an integrated and comprehensive picture of health threats posed by climate change.