CAN (LET’S) participated in the Planetary Health Integration Project. We were thanked for our input and told it was of great value. Using the data from the focus groups and interviews
recommendations were created to share with UBC Faculty of Medicine and put them into action. These are the completed actions and next steps.
Completed:
- Endorsed at Year 1 & 2 Curriculum committee meeting.
- Year 2 Transition into Clinical Education session, “The Climate Crisis, Planetary Health and Medical Practice”
- A Call to Action” to be updated to incorporate Indigenous context, emphasizing relationality.
Learning Objective:
Understand the interconnection between nature, biodiversity, human health, and the planet, drawing from Indigenous knowledge to explain intersectionality.
Endorsed at Year 3 & 4 Curriculum committee meeting.
Year 4 Transition into Practice Program (TIPP) will introduce new 1-2 hour session on Planetary Health covering:
Learning Objective:
Communicate to patients and their communities within the patient context how a changing climate will impact patients and their health.
In progress:
- UBC Medical Students for Climate Action Modules to be added to a server so that it will be maintained as a resource for students.
- Next steps include taking an iterative, deliberate and scholarly approach to integrate planetary health into relevant Case Based Learning (CBL) cases. The project team will apply for a second grant from UBC Sustainability to engage a learner to work with week leads to integrate Planetary Health effectively.
Text from infographic of 6 planetary health themes:
Planetary Health Themes
Theme 1
Ecological Health Promotion
Communicate to patients and their communities how a changing climate will impact their health.
Theme 2
Indigenous Knowledge
Drawing on Indigenous Knowledge to understand the interconnection between nature, biodiversity, human health, and the planet.
Theme 3
Intersectional Dimensions of Health
Planetary health intersects with multiple socioecological determinants of health (ie. socioeconomic status, sex, age, geography).
Theme 4:
Systems Perspective
Using advocacy skills and professional development from a big picture perspective to tackle planetary health challenges.
Theme 5
Resilience, Mitigation, and Adaptation
Understand clinically how to respond to disease burdens in a changing climate.
Understand sustainable practices within the healthcare system, list individual and organizational actions that can be put into practice.
Theme 6
Being in Nature Promotes Health Understand that being in nature makes people feel healthy.