Chicago Community Climate and Health Resilience Workshop

Case study submitted as part of Lancet Commission call for case studies.

Team members

Elena Grossman, MPH, Sheetal Khedkar Rao, MD, Marie Heffernan, PhD, Erika Ninos, Monica Nakielski, Michelle Hoersch

Location: Illinois, USA 

Issue: The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had recently launched two new offices focused on climate change and environmental justice and were seeking local input to better understand how to accelerate the work. In September 2022, the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health convened a roundtable of local leaders to discuss climate change and health equity in the Chicago region with Admiral Rachel Levine, the United States Assistant Secretary for Health.  

Intervention: After this roundtable discussion, a team evolved to continue the momentum in the form of a one-day workshop. The organizers sought to build climate resiliency for Chicagoland communities and healthcare systems. The planning team represented various disciplines, institutions and levels of government. Throughout the year-long planning process, twelve team members met virtually once a month to organize and develop structure, content and a list of invitees.

The workshops included breakout rooms on eight topics related to climate change and resiliency solutions through an equity lens. The topics were air quality, extreme weather events, vector-borne disease, clinical care interactions, food systems, water management, transportation, and infrastructure. These conversations were at both the community and healthcare system levels.

Outcomes:  

• Environmental:  Three of the eight groups discussed strategies with environmental impacts, emphasizing communities most impacted by climate change.  The air quality group mentioned nature-based solutions as a way to address air quality and climate change adaptation and  mitigation; the food systems group described healthcare institutions partnering with local agriculture and emphasizing seasonal, regenerative, and plant-forward meals; and the infrastructure group emphasized the need for healthcare systems to support and advocate for community infrastructure improvements that also provide health benefits such as policies requiring public and private developers to include trees and greenspaces in all building or renovation projects 

• Social: The second panel highlighted the importance of centering the lived experiences of community members and focusing research on solution-based outcomes that can immediately benefit the populations living there. They also identified challenges including many of the most vulnerable communities are adjacent to highways resulting in worse air quality and social isolation and some owners of rental properties do not see the economic benefit of installing air conditioning. Finally, the transportation breakout group suggested that health care systems should consider ways that inequity can impact potential transportation-related climate solutions like using electric vehicles (EVs) or telehealth appointments.
• Financial: The financial cost was putting on a workshop. The true financial impact will occur when participants take what they learn and implement them within their healthcare system and in collaboration with community partners. 
• Clinical: The workshop started with a Plenary Panel. Three of the eight themes that arose addressed population health and health equity. The panel discussed how everyone is impacted by climate change, but the same populations that are often disproportionately impacted by other threats are also more vulnerable to climate change. They also discussed the need to develop policies to protect the most vulnerable, encourage those with privilege to work with those less resilient, and support institutions to implement the healthcare climate pledge. Finally, they emphasized the importance of including education about climate change at all levels of education – primary, medical, and residency curricula, continuing medical education, community members, and patients. 

Key learning point:  Panel members and attendees highlighted the complexity and interconnectedness of existing health inequities with individual health risks of climate change and climate threats at a systems level. The importance of sensitive and transparent communication came up often in panels and breakout groups, and using pre-existing tools for identification, education, and communication was emphasized. 

The key elements of success were a committed and connected planning team, support from employers as well as government leaders, and inclusion of community. For increased success it would be worth considering incentives to increase involvement of community members and the amount of surveys returned.