Challenges and response to climate change and healthcare improvement
| Climate change | Healthcare quality and safety |
| Challenges | Challenges |
| An ecosystem and societal threat | A societal threat |
| Relatively newly perceived problem driving the interest, concern, opportunities | Beginning to be framed as a coherent problem, capable of being meaningfully measured |
| Sustained, long-term change required | Sustained long-term change required |
| Established institutes now addressing the multifaceted nature of the problem | Small centres emerging but few in number and precarious support |
| Need for multidisciplinary approaches accepted | Multidisciplinary work sporadic |
| Disciplines need to work together in a common space | Necessary but rarely achieved |
| Response | Response |
| The challenge has attracted new sources of funding | Funding streams still precarious |
| New language and concepts emerging | Same principle but not yet established |
| Major multidisciplinary centres established | Smaller centres established but few with long-term security |
| Attracts systems thinkers who enjoy crossing disciplinary boundaries | Same, but not well developed |
| Established experts | Leaders emerging |
| People who come together maintain a ‘foot’ in their home departments | Yet to be firmly established |
| Strong public engagement and pressure for individual behaviour changes | Public engagement mainly restricted to activists and pioneers. Potential for patient and public involvement still nascent. |
| Considerable debate on the extent and impact of climate change | Similar debate about extent of problems |