Facilitating an Interprofessional Course on Climate Change and Public Health Preparedness.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Environmental Health
• Interprofessional Education

Background:

• Climate change poses significant risks to public health, necessitating preparedness and mitigation strategies.
• Interprofessional education is crucial for equipping future professionals to address complex health challenges like climate change.
• Existing educational frameworks often lack focus on integrating climate change with public health emergency preparedness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an interprofessional education course designed to enhance students' understanding and action competence regarding climate change and public health preparedness.
• To explore how the course design supported students' personal and professional interest development in climate action.
• To assess the depth and specificity of students' proposed actions and their demonstrated agency in adaptation, preparedness, and mitigation.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of student writing from course assignments, guided by action competence and interest development theories.
• Comparative statistical analysis to examine differential impacts based on course credit enrollment (one vs. three credits).
• Theories of public health emergency preparedness domains informed the course structure and learning activities.

Main Results:

• The course design successfully supported students' progression in knowledge and perceived abilities related to climate change and public health.
• Students demonstrated increased competence in both individual and collective actions aimed at reducing the health impacts of climate change.
• Qualitative analysis revealed development in personal and professional commitments to action, with variations in depth and specificity.

Conclusions:

• The interprofessional course effectively enhanced students' preparedness and action competence for addressing the health impacts of climate change.
• The course design fostered student agency and commitment to individual and collective actions in public health preparedness.
• Integrating climate change into public health curricula is vital for preparing the workforce for current and future health crises.