Talking to Patients About Climate Change and Health
Although climate change impacts mental and physical health in so many ways, it is challenging to find ways to incorporate climate change into a clinic visit -- How will I find the time? how will my patient or their family respond? What if someone asks a question to which I don't know the answer?
As climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe says, the most important thing we can do about climate change is talk about it.
This month we're honored to bring you our first installation of tips and ideas for talking about climate change and health with patients -- brought to us by CHN member Robert Rosenbaum, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist.
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PLAN WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY. Craft a specific, 1-sentence message, then memorize it so you can produce it on demand without having to expend mental effort on it.
PLAN WHO YOU’LL SAY IT TO. Messages work if they’re specific to the patient’s situation. You might want to target patients with specific diagnoses (e.g. hypertension, MS, obesity, COPOD) or specific circumstances (e.g. working outdoors, parent of young children).
PLAN WHERE AND WHEN YOU’LL SAY IT. The “where” and “when” act as cues to remind you to give the message. For example, when you stand up from the computer, or when you move to a table to write a Rx, or when you put your stethoscope/otoscope etc. back into your lab coat. Also, it helps to make a time-limited commitment: “I’ll do this on Monday” or “I’ll do this for the month of August.” This makes it more manageable. Also, you’ll want to change your message and your target patients periodically.
MAKE A PUBLIC COMMITMENT. Tell a clinic colleague, a family member, or a fellow CHN practitioner what you’re going to do. This makes it more “real” than a well-meant but silent personal mental commitment. Here is a worksheet that can be helpful for setting your goal.
HAVE AN EXIT PLAN. If we don’t know how to dis-engage from a conversation with a patient, we’ll be averse to getting bogged down in a conversation with a patient and getting behind schedule. This can be as simple as “I’d love to talk more about it, but I have other patients waiting to see me.” or “I can’t talk about it now, but if you’re interested here’s a pamphlet you might want to look at.”
Example: “This week, starting on Monday, whenever I see a patient with high BP, when I conclude the exam and sit down on my chair to talk to the patient, I’ll say: ’Today your BP was X. Climate change is causing more hot days, and this puts people with high BP at greater risk."
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Want to learn more or check out other resources related to talking to patients about climate change and health? Here's a few below. Have specific ideas or ways that you've found to talk about climate change and health with patients that you'd be up for sharing? Let us know!
Messaging resources from the Med Society Consortium on Climate and Health here and here
The Health Promise of Climate Solutions from the Med Society Consortium