Embedding Environmental Sustainability in Healthcare-Related Higher Education: A Clinical and Laboratory Approach

Summary

Healthcare provision has a significant environmental impact and is one of the main contributors to the national carbon footprint of the UK. The impact on the environment is far reaching; contributing factors include the unnecessary prescribing of medication,  which in turn causes waste and increased transport provision; the inappropriate disposal of waste; the limited use of reusable materials in areas such as laboratories and theatres; the production of waste through excessive use of materials such as excipients and chemicals in laboratories; the use of unnecessarily unsustainable laboratory reagents; and excessive requests for clinical investigations. It is therefore necessary for the future healthcare related workforce to be aware of the requirements of sustainable delivery, both from a clinical perspective at the patient’s bedside and in the laboratories. Future healthcare workers (such as pharmacists, dieticians and biomedical professionals) must now develop awareness of the impact of climate change on human health, usually disproportionately affecting those most vulnerable in society.  
Aspects of environmental sustainability are likely to already be embedded in various Higher Education curricula. Despite this being a very current and fundamental topic, there is a striking lack of evidence of the most effective ways of embedding this topic within Higher Education, including healthcare related Higher Education programmes. For example, how are students made aware that topics covered are linked to sustainability and should this be implicit or explicit? 

The project will aim to explore characteristics and approaches of environmental education within healthcare related curricula. Specific aspects, including evaluation of the effectiveness of the teaching using established frameworks such as the Kirkpatrick Model, will also be explored. The initial phase for this project will involve a detailed and structured systematic review of the topic area. Data from the review will be used to inform the next phases of this research.

Ideally the candidate should have a healthcare profession background with some experience in delivery of clinical or non-clinical healthcare.  

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