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Introduction
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Students mustStudent must submit this questionnaire to complete it
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Welcome to the Climate Change and Health Course for Health Professionals. This virtual course is designed to strengthen the capacity of health professionals to address the health impacts of climate change. It is designed for healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals), public health professionals, health facility administrators, policymakers, and other health sector professionals working in the Caribbean region. Through this course, participants will gain practical tools and knowledge to lead climate-informed health responses and contribute to building more resilient health systems and communities. They will understand the relationship between climate change and health, assessing climate-related health risks in the Caribbean context, implementing climate-resilient healthcare practices, and developing effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. The course also emphasizes the integration of climate considerations into patient care and public health practice, as well as strengthening communication and advocacy for climate action.
This course aligns with PAHO’s Strategic Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). It supports PAHO’s commitment to strengthening health system resilience and building capacity among health professionals to respond to climate-related health challenges across the Caribbean.
This course was sponsored by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and delivered through PAHO’s Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH) platform. The course was created by Anne Peterson (MD, MPH), Alixandria Ali (BSc, PGDip), Daniel Luna (MD, DiplEd, DiplUS), Lorena Botello (MBBS, DipHE, DDU), and Reisha Narine (BSc, MSc). The technical content of the course has been reviewed by WHO/PAHO contributors, including Dr. Karen Polson-Edwards, Advisor in Climate and Environmental Determinants of Health at PAHO, and Dr. Kim Newton-James.
There are four (4) modules to complete, which include:
Module 1: Climate Change Basics and Health Impacts
Module 2: Health Sector's Role in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
Module 3: Climate Change Action for Health Providers
Module 4: Personal and Collective Climate Change Action
The completion time for this course is estimated at 6 hours 30 mins to complete.Requirements for completion of the course:
At the end of each module, there is a required practice quiz of ten (10) multiple-choice questions and a branching case logic activity. The course concludes with a cumulative final examination composed of multiple-choice questions. The required score of 80% or higher is needed to successfully complete the course. Once you’ve successfully completed the course, you will be able to download a certificate of completion from NextGenU.org, endorsed by PAHO.
We keep all of your personal information confidential, never sell any of your information, and only use anonymized data for research purposes. Also, we are happy to report your testing information and share your work with anyone (your school, employer, etc.) at your request.
Engaging with this course:
You may browse this course for free to learn for your personal enrichment; there are no requirements.
To PASS and Obtain a Certificate
● All reading requirements,
● All quizzes and pass with a 80% with unlimited attempts,
● Complete the Final Examination Quiz
● The self and course evaluation forms.To obtain credit:
Complete all requirements listed above for the certificate, and
Your learning institution or workplace should approve the course for educational credit, as they would for their learner taking a course anywhere.
To obtain a degree, NextGenU.org co-sponsors degree programs with institutional partners. To obtain a full degree co-sponsored with NextGenU.org, you must be enrolled in a degree program as a student of a NextGenU.org institutional partner. If you think that your institution might be interested in offering a degree with NextGenU.org, contact us.
We hope that you will find this a rewarding learning experience, and we count on your assessment and feedback to help us improve this training for future students.
Here are the next steps to take the course and earn a certificate.
Complete the registration form
Begin the course with Module 1
In each lesson, read the description, complete all required readings and any required activity, and take the corresponding quizzes.
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Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Student Learning Outcomes:- Apply a solutions-focused approach to understanding climate change basics, health effects, and the role of health professionals in addressing the crisis within their institutions and communities.
- Explain climate change's health effects on communities, considering factors that constitute climate vulnerability - sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity.
- Examine the health impacts of climate change, focusing on key areas of concern in the Caribbean.
- Distinguish between climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, and identify the role of health professionals in these areas.
Approximate time required for the readings for this lesson (at 144 words/minute): 1 hour and 40 minutes.
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Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Student Learning Outcomes:- Examine the health sector's role in climate change mitigation and resilience, focusing on strategies to reduce the carbon footprint and promote sustainable practices.
- Develop skills in preventing and monitoring climate-related health impacts, with a focus on key areas of concern for health-specific adaptation.
- Integrate climate change considerations into patient care and public health practice.
- Identify and describe why intersectoral collaboration is essential for climate change adaptation and mitigation in health.
Approximate time required for the readings for this lesson (at 144 words/minute): 1 hour and 40 minutes.
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Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Student Learning Outcomes:- Understand and identify practical climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in healthcare settings. Develop strategies for climate-resilient healthcare systems.
- Integrate climate change considerations into patient care and public health practice.
- Enhance climate change communication skills for healthcare settings.
- Engage in local climate change initiatives with interdisciplinary collaboration.
Approximate time required for the readings for this lesson (at 144 words/minute): 1 hour and 40 minutes.
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Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Reflect on personal climate change contributions and develop a carbon footprint reduction plan.
- Identify and propose climate change mitigation actions within the health system.
- Engage in collaborative and communal actions to address climate change on a broader scale.
Approximate time required for the readings for this lesson (at 144 words/minute): 1 hour and 30 minutes.
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In this section, the student provide feedback about this course to help make NextGenU.org better. Once evaluations are completed, the certificate of completion will be available for download.
