TY - JOUR
T1 - Mitigation of climate change in health care
T2 - A survey for the evaluation of providers’ attitudes and knowledge, and their view on their organization's readiness for change
AU - Baumann, Adrian A.W.
AU - Conway, Neal
AU - Doblinger, Claudia
AU - Steinhauser, Stefanie
AU - Paszko, Agata
AU - Lehmann, Ferdinand
AU - Schneider, Gerhard
AU - Schulz, Christian M.
AU - Schneider, Frederick
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Background: Climate change is the 21st century's greatest threat to health. Anaesthesia is responsible for high levels of waste production, significant greenhouse gas emissions and extensive energy consumption. Our aim was to design an instrument to assess attitudes and knowledge among anaesthetists as well as their organisation's readiness for change regarding climate action. Methods: In 2020, the Provider Education and Evaluation Project (PEEP) questionnaire was sent to anaesthetists working at a university hospital, which contains 65 items in five areas: demographics, personal attitudes, organisational readiness, opportunities, and specific anaesthesiologic knowledge regarding climate action. Except for two open text questions, all questions were closed questions. Results: 104 anaesthetists responded to the survey (response rate 62%). Environmental protection and sustainability were important to all participants (100%). Most felt threatened by the ongoing climate crisis (94.2%). While most participants agreed that their employer had the financial or technological capacities and that sustainability targets were compatible with core business activities (approval >60% for all), they felt unprepared and stated that they had too little time to consider environmental aspects during daily routines (disapproval >60% for all). Furthermore, knowledge on topics such as ongoing efforts to tackle climate change or the climate footprint of drugs and medical products, was rather scarce. Conclusion: The PEEP questionnaire is an applicable and viable tool to assess anaesthetists’ knowledge and attitudes towards climate change and organisational readiness for change. While participants care about the climate crisis, organisational readiness was low, especially when it comes to staff readiness (i.e., skills and knowledge) and cultural readiness (i.e., shared values). These aspects need to be considered in order to successfully implement a carbon neutral health care system.
AB - Background: Climate change is the 21st century's greatest threat to health. Anaesthesia is responsible for high levels of waste production, significant greenhouse gas emissions and extensive energy consumption. Our aim was to design an instrument to assess attitudes and knowledge among anaesthetists as well as their organisation's readiness for change regarding climate action. Methods: In 2020, the Provider Education and Evaluation Project (PEEP) questionnaire was sent to anaesthetists working at a university hospital, which contains 65 items in five areas: demographics, personal attitudes, organisational readiness, opportunities, and specific anaesthesiologic knowledge regarding climate action. Except for two open text questions, all questions were closed questions. Results: 104 anaesthetists responded to the survey (response rate 62%). Environmental protection and sustainability were important to all participants (100%). Most felt threatened by the ongoing climate crisis (94.2%). While most participants agreed that their employer had the financial or technological capacities and that sustainability targets were compatible with core business activities (approval >60% for all), they felt unprepared and stated that they had too little time to consider environmental aspects during daily routines (disapproval >60% for all). Furthermore, knowledge on topics such as ongoing efforts to tackle climate change or the climate footprint of drugs and medical products, was rather scarce. Conclusion: The PEEP questionnaire is an applicable and viable tool to assess anaesthetists’ knowledge and attitudes towards climate change and organisational readiness for change. While participants care about the climate crisis, organisational readiness was low, especially when it comes to staff readiness (i.e., skills and knowledge) and cultural readiness (i.e., shared values). These aspects need to be considered in order to successfully implement a carbon neutral health care system.
KW - Climate change
KW - Climate change mitigation
KW - Global warming
KW - Organizational readiness
KW - Planetary health
KW - Provider education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135334333&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.zefq.2022.05.013
DO - 10.1016/j.zefq.2022.05.013
M3 - Article
C2 - 35927202
AN - SCOPUS:85135334333
SN - 1865-9217
VL - 173
SP - 108
EP - 115
JO - Zeitschrift fur Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualitat im Gesundheitswesen
JF - Zeitschrift fur Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualitat im Gesundheitswesen
ER -