Clinical impacts and solutions Sustainable business and solutions

Sustainable Child Health

This course, developed in collaboration with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health explores the impacts of climate change and nature loss on the health and wellbeing of children and young people, and the ways in which the healthcare system is both vulnerable to and contributing to these crises.

Using real world case studies, the course describes how we can deliver healthcare sustainably and adapt to climate change and explores what the wider benefits might be, outlining a comprehensive vision of a sustainable system of care that maximises children’s opportunities to thrive and supports the ecosystems they depend on to flourish.

We also consider the leadership role healthcare staff (at any level) can play in providing healthcare for all within planetary boundaries. As healthcare professionals working with children our duty of care means we cannot stand on the sidelines. There are many important ways to make a difference and this course is a starting point.

Learning objectives

By the end of the course you will be able to:

Describe the risks the global environmental crisis presents to child health and wellbeing and healthcare systems.
Describe the contribution of the health sector to the global environmental crisis.
Identify carbon hotspots and understand the basic principles of carbon footprinting and sustainability in quality improvement.
Explain how to deliver sustainable healthcare for children and young people and how this could help to address existing challenges in the healthcare system.
Apply these principles to plan a sustainability project in your workplace.