Climate change and health informatics: pilot survey of perspectives across the field.

Abstract

Establish a baseline of informatics professionals' perspectives on climate change and health. Anonymized survey sent to 9 informatics listservs March 31, 2022 to April 15, 2022. N = 85 participants completed part or all of survey. Majority of participants worked at hospitals with 1000+ employees (73%) in urban areas (60%) in the United States. Respondents broadly reported general understanding of climate change and health (51%), but 71% reported unfamiliarity with technologies that could help clinicians and informaticians address the impacts of climate change. Seventy-one percent of surveyed wanted climate-driven environmental health information included in EHRs. Seventy-six percent of respondents reported that informaticians should be involved in institutional decarbonization. Seventy-eight percent of respondents felt that it was extremely, very, or moderately important to receive education on climate change. General consensus on need to engage informaticians in climate change response, but gaps identified in knowledge dissemination and tools for adaptation and mitigation. Informaticians broadly concerned about climate change and want to be engaged in efforts to combat it, but further education and tool development needed.