Incorporating Sustainability into Community-Based Healthcare Practice

Abstract

There is now irrefutable evidence that climate change and increasing environmental degradation negatively affect population health. Healthcare plays an important role in addressing these emerging environmental challenges, considering its core aim is to protect and promote health. Preliminary research in Victoria, Australia, suggests that healthcare practitioners are endeavouring to factor in environmental concerns into their practice. Health promotion, an integral part of the healthcare system, is considered an area of practice that can support action on sustainability. Based on five qualitative case studies and key stakeholder interviews, this article explores key barriers and facilitators to incorporating sustainability into community-based healthcare practice. The findings demonstrate that despite multiple barriers, including funding and lack of policy direction, health promotion principles and practices can enable action on sustainability.

Sustainability within the Academic EcoHealth Literature: Existing Engagement and Future Prospects

“…Connell et al concluded that "the overarching goals of health and sustainability facilitate collaboration among disciplines" but "that differences arise from how each approach operationalizes systems as variables and indicators" and, therefore, that "the concepts of health and sustainability can be used to study ecosystems and livelihoods at various scales" [74]. Patrick et al outline that the individual competencies inherent to health promotion that are useful for engaging with health and sustainability are "individual behavior, organization and social change, partnership development, advocacy for policy and legislative change, and community engagement" [75]. In their study they performed interviews that revealed the sentiment that the "absence of a comprehensive framework to guide action on health and sustainability" is a main barrier for "incorporating sustainability into healthcare practice" [75].…”

“…Patrick et al outline that the individual competencies inherent to health promotion that are useful for engaging with health and sustainability are "individual behavior, organization and social change, partnership development, advocacy for policy and legislative change, and community engagement" [75]. In their study they performed interviews that revealed the sentiment that the "absence of a comprehensive framework to guide action on health and sustainability" is a main barrier for "incorporating sustainability into healthcare practice" [75]. The interviews revealed further that the local agenda 21, healthy cities, Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, environments for health, the Climate Change Adaptation: a Framework for Action, and the Social Model of Health were identified as facilitators to the "congruence between health and sustainability goals" [75].…”

“…. a reprioritization of society towards values which promote well-being, health and equity, while reducing inequalities and over-consumption" [75]. Hanlon and Carlisle "infer the need for leadership, systems thinking and social change, which are the essential features of health promotion practice" [75].…”

“…In their study they performed interviews that revealed the sentiment that the "absence of a comprehensive framework to guide action on health and sustainability" is a main barrier for "incorporating sustainability into healthcare practice" [75]. The interviews revealed further that the local agenda 21, healthy cities, Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, environments for health, the Climate Change Adaptation: a Framework for Action, and the Social Model of Health were identified as facilitators to the "congruence between health and sustainability goals" [75].…”

“…a reprioritization of society towards values which promote well-being, health and equity, while reducing inequalities and over-consumption" [75]. Hanlon and Carlisle "infer the need for leadership, systems thinking and social change, which are the essential features of health promotion practice" [75]. Finally, one article outlined that EcoHealth connections that enable a world that supports social and gender equity, ecosystem sustainability, and health for humans and other species allows its participants to be agents of change and "to challenge the dogma of neutral science" [69].…”