Building Capacity at Local Public Health Departments Around Climate Change and Human Health

Climate change has been identified as an area of concern for public health officials by the world’s leading public health authorities, including the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the National Environmental Health Association. Adverse effects on human health have been documented around the world and are predicted to continue to grow in severity. Local public health departments are the “first line of defense” in our public health system. As such, it is critical that the public health community has both the expertise and the resources to identify and respond to the challenges presented by climate change.

This session will introduce attendees to the new guidebook, Building Capacity at Local Public Health Departments Around Climate Change and Human Health, through a series of hands-on activities that provide step-by-step guidance for how to build capacity within a local health department to both reduce community greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the health effects of climate change.

The activities will address the following topics:

1. How to build a case within a local health department for responding to the health effects of climate change.
2. How to integrate climate planning throughout existing programs.
3. How to initiate or strengthen collaborations for greater efficiency and effectiveness. And,
4. how to incorporate climate messaging into community outreach and regulatory activities.

At the end of the session, attendees will be able to employ the results of the tabletop exercises to help their local health departments launch climate change programs — whether housed internally or forming a piece of a larger, interdepartmental climate change program.