Title: Implementing Climate Change Health Interventions: A Focus on Implementation Science
By Julie Leibach
Understanding the Importance of Implementation Science in Climate Change Health Interventions
Efforts to protect human health against climate change crises should consider drawing on implementation science , a field that studies how to promote adoption and sustainability of solutions to public health challenges, according to an article appearing in The Lancet Planetary Health . By analyzing real examples of climate-related health interventions that hit roadblocks, the authors suggest ways to avoid similar snags.
Challenges in Deploying Health Interventions
When it comes to deploying health interventions – a catch-all term for policies, programs, or individual practices to improve health – obstacles are practically inevitable, said first author Gila Neta, Ph.D., M.P.P., program director in implementation science at the National Cancer Institute.
“Just because you have evidence that an intervention works doesn’t mean that people are necessarily going to use it – and there all kinds of reasons why that might be,” Neta explained. “Implementation science is focused on supporting delivery of the intervention at all levels, with all people involved.”
Lessons from Case Studies
For example, a health intervention may falter without local support, or if a community lacks expertise to maintain it. Understanding why an effort succeeds or fails can help researchers and stakeholders improve development, scale-up, and evaluation of efforts to protect health in the face of climate change.
Insights from a Satellite Session
In 2021, the NIEHS Global Environmental Health Program organized a satellite session on implementation science, held before the Consortium of Universities for Global Health’s 12th annual conference .
Moderated by former NIEHS Senior Advisor John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., the event brought together climate and health researchers, public health practitioners, and implementation science experts to discuss how the field can inform health adaptation interventions. The current paper grew out of that session.
Recommendations for Future Deployment
After analyzing each case study, the authors offered several recommendations to improve future deployment of early warning systems for infectious disease outbreaks.
Identifying, understanding, and anticipating challenges is an important early step, they noted. A shortage of skilled personnel to manage data, poorly defined health protocols for responding to forecasts, and lack of infrastructure are just a few common obstacles to successful early warning system implementation.
Charting a Path Forward
To navigate the constellation of challenges, the authors recommended following an implementation science framework – a conceptual roadmap of sorts – that guides understanding of the people and settings that could influence a given intervention. In the case of an early warning system, researchers might assess the technical capabilities of people charged with operating the system, as well as the political climate, among other considerations.
Key Takeaways and Future Engagement
Balbus hopes his team’s paper reaches climate researchers who are developing solutions, as well as the climate health adaptation community. “We want researchers to be more aware of the opportunities for incorporating data collection to help address implementation challenges in their study designs,” he said. “We also want people working in climate health adaptation to be aware of the field of implementation science, and to recognize that there is an academic approach to help them achieve success in their adaptation efforts.”
In conclusion, understanding the importance of implementation science in climate change health interventions is crucial for successfully deploying solutions to protect human health. By learning from past examples and incorporating recommendations for future deployment, researchers and stakeholders can work towards effective adaptation strategies in the face of climate-related health threats.
