Training in Climate Impacts and Planning in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: A Review Open Access
Gross, Nathan (Fall 2023)
Published
Abstract
Climate change is a significant global threat with current and potential future broad-ranging effects on public health. Recent research suggests that the burden of climate change is increasing and affecting the most vulnerable international populations. Public health emergency managers need climate change training to properly prepare and respond to climate emergencies, particularly those within the realm of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (CHE). Within the Emory Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH), there currently needs to be a class that addresses planning in the context of climate change and complex humanitarian emergencies. At RSPH there is both a CHE and a Climate and Health Certificate which could provide a possibility opportunity for course creation. This thesis aims to 1) Identify whether training dealing with the intersection of climate change, CHEs, and emergency planning exists within public health graduate education and 2) Develop recommendations for RSPH course development for future public health students. A systematic scoping review following the Cochrane Handbook guidelines was conducted to identify the existing landscape of training within public health master programs as well as existing continuing education materials. Materials were reviewed to assess the applicability, quality, and relevance of the content to the intersection of CHE, climate change, and emergency planning. We used an inclusion criterion that mandated sources must include the following intersection 1) climate change 2) humanitarian emergencies 3) planning in the context of the public health training curriculum at a graduate level public health program or continuing education public health curriculum. Literature was excluded if programs that address the intersection between climate change, health, and CHEs were outside of public health graduate programs or related continuing education. After identifying the sources, the sources were reviewed to assess adaptability to RSPH’s context and best practice methods for a future course at RSPH for climate change and CHE intersection. We reviewed 13 databases, locating 1,579 potential sources. After performing a Cochrane-based systematic review, 20 sources met inclusion criteria as training materials courses or curricula, representing nine different organizations or authors. Overall, there are minimal materials on the intersection of CHE, climate change, and applied planning; furthermore, given the importance, the RSPH course has to take components of what exists and design its curriculum using the components, due to the severity and time sensitive need presented by climate change. Additionally, existing curriculum is from reputable sources. However, these materials should be further informed by key informant interviews and discussions with future stakeholders from both the academic and professional sectors to further evaluate the need and course creation. Based on the current information independent of the interviews, the following recommendation was made for creating this curriculum. The final course should include elements from WHO’s continuing education materials, John Hopkin’s Humanitarian certificate, and John Hopkin’s Climate and Health certificate, as well as incorporating aspects of the University of Vermont’s Climate Emergencies course, and finally pulling from related information from the Sphere handbook and materials specific to climate change adaption.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
The Global Context 1
Climate Change 2
Complex Humanitarian Emergencies 3
Chapter 2
Intersectionality in Planning 7
Rollins School of Public Health Context 11
Chapter 3:
Methodology 13
Results 16
Chapter 4:
Discussion 23
Recommendation 29
Limitations 31
References 33
Appendix 40
Table 1 40
Table 2 60
Table 3 61
About this Master's Thesis
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