Study shows: Health advice without climate arguments is better received!

Study shows: Health advice without climate arguments is better received!

A new ray of hope for health communication: A current study by the University Medical Center Halle and the University of Heidelberg shows that health advice without reference to climate change is more widely accepted. The results were published in the respected journalThe Lancet Planetary Healthpublished and could provide important impulses for doctors and health advice. Almost 1,500 participants from five federal states took part in this study, which looked at perceptions of medical advice in the context of health and climate change.

The study presented respondents with three scenarios: on the one hand, the health benefits of individual measures were highlighted; on the other hand, climate benefits and the health risks of climate change were mentioned. The scenario that focused exclusively on personal health benefits performed best with 4.09 out of 5 points. In contrast, the climate-related scenarios were significantly behind and received an average of 3.5 points. People with right-wing political orientations and climate change skeptics were particularly skeptical about climate arguments. On the other hand, climate-conscious people and socially politically left-leaning people were not significantly less willing to accept climate messages.

Climate change as a health threat

The importance of the issue is underlined by high-ranking institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), which describes climate change as the greatest health threat to humanity. According to the RKI, climate change poses numerous challenges for public health that can put a strain on financial and health systems. The 2015 Paris Agreement is considered the most important public health agreement of the 21st century. How healthcare facilities respond to the challenges of climate change is therefore crucial.

The Robert Koch Institute has launched various projects that focus in particular on the health challenges caused by heat, as it is particularly dangerous for vulnerable groups such as older people, pregnant women and socially disadvantaged people. The adjustments are being made by a cross-departmental working group that now brings together scientific work in this area and has formulated over 250 options for action to improve health care.

Health communication rethought

In view of the study results, health communication should increasingly take people's individual values ​​into account in order to promote healthier behavior. Tailored messages could not only increase the acceptability of health speeches, but also simultaneously integrate climate science arguments that present legitimate reasons for a healthy lifestyle. A balanced, plant-based diet as well as active mobility could benefit both individual health and climate protection.

Doctors, medical associations and the Federal Ministry of Health are already showing a growing interest in this topic, indicating the increasing relevance of the link between health and climate change. It remains to be hoped that such findings will soon find their way into medical practice and not only increase the acceptance of health advice, but also improve people's quality of life.

For further details on the health implications of climate change, readers can consult the RKI's work on RKI and the environmental health studies on NCBI read up.