Oral

While there is scientific consensus that climate change is occurring and will have significant effects on the environment and human health, there are numerous challenges for individuals and public health agencies in being able to anticipate, prepare for and respond to the effects. Mitigating and adapting to climate change requires adopting sustainable behaviors, but while such efforts can have significant public health co-benefits they are often challenging to integrate and may reinforce underlying disparities in health status and vulnerability to the health effects of climate change. This session will speak to those efforts currently underway to create comprehensive, effective approaches to addressing the health effects of climate change at all levels, from the individual to the collective. Presentations will highlight efforts to: 1) predict household-level behaviors and behavioral intentions for reducing climate change; 2) develop new guidance for establishing capabilities within local, state, and national health agencies that will enable them to forecast the most likely health impacts from climate change within their area; 3) initiate enhanced surveillance activities and models to identify communities and systems vulnerable to climate-sensitive health outcomes; 4) apply fact-based learning to enhance public health preparedness planning and response; 5) mitigate inequity through the implementation of an equity impact review process during development of climate action plans; 6) collect and manage environmental and health outcomes data as part of a national network to house data, create nationally consistent data measures, and facilitate data linkages; and 7) create profiles which provides a baseline measure for health indicators and a picture of what risks populations currently face.

Session Objectives: 1. Identify health indicators and means to effectively address public health issues related to climate change in order to affect population health outcomes and health equity. 2. Describe comprehensive methods for examining health effects and predicting future sustainable behaviors at household, city, state, and national levels. 3. Formulate an advocative strategy for climate action planning and interventions to increase engagement in sustainable behaviors for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)