Planetary Health & Sustainable Care ECHO

Within the Canadian health sector, there is growing recognition of the impacts of climate change on health and health systems, and the many ways in which the health sector itself is contributing to climate change and other environmental problems. Emerging sustainability champions have been calling for change as they initiate climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation projects at all levels of the health system. As our collective understanding of the issues and opportunities related to climate change deepens, members of the healthcare community need support as they navigate the nuances of sustainability work.

The Planetary Health & Sustainable Care ECHO offers a collaborative space for people in the Canadian healthcare sector to discuss, troubleshoot, and celebrate efforts to provide climate resilient and responsible care across settings and specialties.

Cycle Overview

The ability to deliver high-quality care and extend the responsibilities of health services to future generations requires careful stewardship of resources and consideration of the broader impacts of healthcare delivery on the environment, and the determinants of health. When care is provided, we must ensure it is appropriate to avoid harmful overuse and underuse. And when appropriate care is provided, we must ensure it is as sustainable as possible to enhance the health sector’s climate resilience and reduce its contributions to climate change and other environmental problems.  These efforts are deeply tied to achieving quality co-benefits, such as improving patient outcomes and reducing costs.

In this ECHO cycle, we will explore resource stewardship as a key component in the delivery of high-quality, truly sustainable care. Through brief lectures and case presentations from a variety of sites and settings, we will consider the following two themes:

RETHINK: Considering practice and operational changes that reduce the use of unnecessary products and services

• Possible topics include testing, prescribing, PPE use, supply management, and more

REPLACE: Considering more sustainable alternatives to environmentally impactful products and services

• Possible topics include reusable products, circular economy policies and procurement practices, sustainable care pathways, food services, digital health technologies, and more

Topics will be determined in part based on case presentation proposals submitted by participants. A final agenda will be circulated in advance of the first session.

Learning Objectives

Through weekly Zoom meetings, participants will be able to:

• Explain the relationship between climate change, health, and health systems
• Identify opportunities to integrate resilience and sustainability into their work
• Leverage lessons from the field to enhance their sustainability and resilience initiatives
• Gain insight into how their sustainability efforts connect with similar initiatives, and with the larger landscape of climate-resilient and sustainable healthcare
• Locate resources and support for implementing sustainability and resilience initiatives

Who it’s for:

Interdisciplinarity is key to the successful planning and implementation of climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The ECHO is therefore open to all members of the Canadian healthcare community, including frontline care providers, trainees, QI and IT experts, managers, leaders, patient partners, and others.

How it works:

Each session features a topic of interest grounded by experts in the field and brought to life by case studies shared by participants (to be arranged in advance); these can include:

• The implementation of completed projects/efforts (can be successful or failed projects)
• Experiences from the “messy middle” of implementing change
• Contemplated changes in a particularly challenging area/topic for which advice/guidance is sought

An in-depth discussion of each case will yield recommendations for presenters where they are sought, and insights on and inspiration for sustainability efforts for all participants, which they can in turn share with their own networks to spread good sustainability practice.

Any resources discussed during a session will be shared via the ECHO website, where participants can also find discussion boards and summaries of cases and recommendations.

While participants are encouraged to attend every session to grow their network and better explore the nuances of sustainability implementation, the syllabus will be posted in advance to allow for attendance at sessions of interest.

How to sign up:

Please register via this link. If you’re working on or know of a relevant case, please note this in your registration form! We review all case suggestions and will contact you for further details if there is strong alignment with a session topic.

Upon registration, you’ll receive a calendar invitation to all 8 ECHO sessions. We’d love to see you at every session but understand that that may not always be possible. The cycle schedule will be shared in advance so that you can prioritize the sessions most relevant to your scope of practice.

Accreditation:

This continuing professional development activity is accredited for College of Family Physicians of Canada Mainpro+® – Group Learning credits & Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada – Section 1 credits under the auspices of Continuing Professional Development, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.