Climate, Vol. 14, Pages 12: Climate Change and Health Systems: A Scoping Review of Health Professionals’ Perceptions and Readiness for Action

Climate doi: 10.3390/cli14010012

Authors:
Vasileios Gkouliaveras
Stavros Kalogiannidis
Dimitrios Kalfas
Apostolia Papaklonari
Stamatis Kontsas

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, with direct implications for sustainable development, the physical and mental health of populations, and the functioning of health systems. Strengthening the resilience and sustainability of health systems through mitigation and adaptation strategies requires the active involvement of health professionals. This scoping review explores health professionals’ perceptions of climate change and its impacts on public health and health systems, as well as their operational preparedness and the barriers to adaptation. The literature review was conducted in three phases (20 December 2024, 20 January 2025, and 20 March 2025) using the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases, covering the period 2016–2025 and following PRISMA guidelines. Of the 1888 studies initially identified, 36 met the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings showed that while health professionals recognize climate change as a current threat to public health and health systems, they are not adequately prepared to address its impacts. The main barriers to addressing climate change are related to a lack of information and awareness, inadequate training, limited time, lack of supportive leadership, failure to integrate sustainable practices into daily clinical practice and, above all, inadequate funding. Based on these findings, there is an urgent need to develop policies that promote the active participation of health professionals in the design and implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. At the same time, there is a need to strengthen research activity through both synchronous and diachronic studies in order to gather information on the sustainability and resilience of health systems.

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Vasileios Gkouliaveras www.mdpi.com