Climate Change, Community Action, and Health in the Anglophone Caribbean: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Community Health
• Climate Change Adaptation

Background:

• Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean face unique vulnerabilities to climate change.
• Community action is recognized as crucial for adaptation and resilience.
• The intersection of community action, climate change, and health outcomes requires further exploration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review of research on community action, climate change, and health and wellbeing.
• To identify research gaps in the anglophone Caribbean SIDS context.
• To assess the current state of knowledge on this nexus.

Main Methods:

• Guided by the Arksey and O'Malley framework and PRISMA-ScR checklist.
• Comprehensive search of multiple databases (Medline/OVID, PsychInfo, VHL, Sociological Abstracts, Google Scholar, Scopus) from 1946-2021.
• Analysis of fourteen eligible studies focusing on community action, climate change, and health dimensions.

Main Results:

• Fourteen studies met the eligibility criteria from 3,828 records.
• Most studies were case studies using mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative data).
• Community groups focused on fishing, farming, food security, conservation, and environmental issues.

Conclusions:

• Few studies explicitly connect community action, climate change, and health outcomes in the region.
• The direct links between climate change impacts and public health require more explicit research.
• Further investigation into the nexus of community action, climate change, and health in anglophone Caribbean SIDS is warranted.