| Issue/Objective |
Climate change is expected to increase pressures on Canada's healthcare system, including outbreaks in previously unaffected areas (e.g., Lyme disease), increased incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, injuries and premature deaths from extreme weather events, and effects on mental health. The Canadian Medical Association (CMA), through its Climate and Health Initiative, is raising awareness about the links between climate and health and partnering nationally and internationally to advocate and mitigate the impacts of climate change on health.
This presentation will provide an overview of the CMA's work at the intersection of climate and health, describing examples of collaboration to implement sustainable practices. It will also describe the CMA's learning-focused measurement and evaluation framework to assess the effectiveness of its climate and health initiatives. |
| Methodology/Approach |
The presentation will highlight two initiatives:
1. Partnership with Choosing Wisely Canada: CMA collaborated with over 20 clinician societies and partners to develop recommendations specific to individual health specialties. These recommendations promote the reduction of unnecessary medical tests, treatments, and procedures, placing health workers at the forefront of climate mitigation.
2. Collaboration with WHO: In 2024, CMA supported WHO in releasing the Communicating on Climate Change and Health Toolkit for Health Professionals, aiding health professionals in effectively communicating about climate and health. |
| Results |
Lessons:
1. The importance of collaboration and targeted recommendations to address specific health specialties. The partnership with Choosing Wisely Canada has shown that reducing unnecessary medical tests and procedures can have significant climate-health co-benefits. The collaboration with WHO has highlighted the need for effective communication tools to help health professionals address climate change and health.
2. The critical role of evaluation in identifying successes, challenges, and lessons to continuously adapt and improve its Climate and Health programming. |
| Discussion/Conclusion |
CMA has developed an evaluation framework to measure the effectiveness of its climate and health initiative. This framework will assess how CMA activities contribute to implementing effective climate risk mitigation strategies in the Canadian health system. The complexity of an initiative aimed at mitigating climate change impacts on health and the healthcare system necessitates a measurement system that provides timely data, lessons learned, and recommendations for programmatic modifications. |
| Presenters and affiliations |
David Amaya Canadian Medical Association |
