Educator perspectives on integrating climate change and environmental sustainability into occupational therapy education.

Background: Climate change has been identified as the biggest threat to global public health. 1 Despite the clear connection between negative health outcomes and anthropogenic climate change, there are few guidelines for curricular inclusion within healthcare education, including occupational therap...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Work Vol. 82; no. 3; pp. 638 - 652
Autores principales: Santos, Audi Q, Nepveux, Denise M, Richardson, Elizabeth, Hood, Tyler, Murdock, Cameron, Mokhtar, Sina
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Nov2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=189650155&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 189650155
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        10519815
        3RC
      jtl: Work
      issn: 10519815
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Nov2025
      vid: 82
      iid: 3
      pid: 344
      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
      place: Thousand Oaks, California
    artinfo:
      ui:
        189650155
        189174966
        189650155
        189650155
        10.1177/10519815251392187
        189650155
      ppf: 638
      ppct: 14
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
      tig:
        atl: Educator perspectives on integrating climate change and environmental sustainability into occupational therapy education.
      aug:
        au:
          Santos, Audi Q
          Nepveux, Denise M
          Richardson, Elizabeth
          Hood, Tyler
          Murdock, Cameron
          Mokhtar, Sina
        affil: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Education, Occupational Therapy
          Faculty Attitudes
          Integrated Curriculum
          Climate Change Education
          Environmental Sustainability Education
          Course Content
          Faculty, Health Occupations United States
          Human
          United States
          Male
          Female
          Adult
          Middle Age
          Exploratory Research
          Descriptive Research
          Multimethod Studies
          Questionnaires
          Conceptual Framework
          Convenience Sample
          Thematic Analysis
          Descriptive Statistics
          Data Analysis Software
          Chi Square Test
          Post Hoc Analysis
          New Mexico
          Accreditation
          Curriculum
          Sustainable Growth
          Health Promotion
          Patient Centered Care
          Professional Development
          Funding Source
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background: Climate change has been identified as the biggest threat to global public health. 1 Despite the clear connection between negative health outcomes and anthropogenic climate change, there are few guidelines for curricular inclusion within healthcare education, including occupational therapy (OT). However, the World Federation of Occupational Therapists has emphasized the importance of sustainability, 2 and the American Occupational Therapy Association published a policy asserting the profession's commitment to addressing these topics. 3 Objective: This study explored the perspectives of OT educators in the United States on the relevance, importance, and feasibility of integrating climate change and environmental sustainability into OT education programs. Methods: An online Qualtrics survey was distributed, with 64 respondents across the United States. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to determine relationships between respondent responses to question pairs. Qualitative responses underwent thematic analysis. Results: Most educators acknowledged the relevance and importance of addressing climate change and environmental sustainability. Several barriers hindered implementation, including an already overloaded curriculum with a lack of explicitly related Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy standards, limited time, a lack of awareness of how climate change and environmental sustainability fit into OT programs, and skepticism about climate change as relevant to OT practice. Conclusions: The findings indicate varied perspectives among US-based OT faculty. They suggest a need for educational resources that link climate change and environmental sustainability to health, occupation and other core tenets of OT and offer strategies for integrating this content into OT education.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N