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Advocacy to support climate and health policies: recommended actions for the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Mendoza-Vasconez, AS; McLaughlin, E; Sallis, JF; Maibach, E; Epel, E; Bennett, G; Nogueira, L; Thayer, J; Dietz, WH
Published in: Translational behavioral medicine
May 2022

Climate change poses serious threats to public health and is exacerbating health inequities. Policy changes are essential to mitigate climate change impacts on human and planetary health. The purpose was to describe recommendations by the Policy and Advocacy Subgroup of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) Climate Change, Behavior Change and Health Presidential Working Group (PWG). The Policy and Advocacy subgroup was comprised of experts in public health, climate policy, and health behavior change, who worked together to identify priorities and develop recommendations. We worked under the premise that building political will for climate policy action is the most urgent goal, and we recommended promotion of citizen advocacy for this purpose. Because citizen advocacy is a set of behaviors, SBM members can use behavioral science to identify and scale up interventions, working collaboratively with communities targeted for marginalization. Recommendations for SBM included establishing an organizational home for climate and health work, providing training and resources, engaging in climate advocacy as an organization, and networking with other organizations. Recommendations for a proposed SBM Climate and Health Committee, Council, or Special Interest Group included developing trainings and resources, seeking opportunities for networking and collaborations, and identifying a research agenda. Individual behavior changes are insufficient to address climate change; policy actions are needed. SBM and similar organizations can support their members to work in developing, evaluating, and scaling up advocacy interventions for action on climate policy to magnify the power of the health and medical sectors to protect planetary and human health.

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Published In

Translational behavioral medicine

DOI

EISSN

1613-9860

ISSN

1869-6716

Publication Date

May 2022

Volume

12

Issue

4

Start / End Page

535 / 543

Related Subject Headings

  • Societies
  • Humans
  • Health Policy
  • Behavioral Medicine
  • 52 Psychology
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
  • 1112 Oncology and Carcinogenesis
  • 1103 Clinical Sciences
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Mendoza-Vasconez, A. S., McLaughlin, E., Sallis, J. F., Maibach, E., Epel, E., Bennett, G., … Dietz, W. H. (2022). Advocacy to support climate and health policies: recommended actions for the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 12(4), 535–543. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibac028
Mendoza-Vasconez, Andrea S., Elizabeth McLaughlin, James F. Sallis, Edward Maibach, Elissa Epel, Gary Bennett, Leticia Nogueira, Julian Thayer, and William H. Dietz. “Advocacy to support climate and health policies: recommended actions for the Society of Behavioral Medicine.Translational Behavioral Medicine 12, no. 4 (May 2022): 535–43. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibac028.
Mendoza-Vasconez AS, McLaughlin E, Sallis JF, Maibach E, Epel E, Bennett G, et al. Advocacy to support climate and health policies: recommended actions for the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Translational behavioral medicine. 2022 May;12(4):535–43.
Mendoza-Vasconez, Andrea S., et al. “Advocacy to support climate and health policies: recommended actions for the Society of Behavioral Medicine.Translational Behavioral Medicine, vol. 12, no. 4, May 2022, pp. 535–43. Epmc, doi:10.1093/tbm/ibac028.
Mendoza-Vasconez AS, McLaughlin E, Sallis JF, Maibach E, Epel E, Bennett G, Nogueira L, Thayer J, Dietz WH. Advocacy to support climate and health policies: recommended actions for the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Translational behavioral medicine. 2022 May;12(4):535–543.
Journal cover image

Published In

Translational behavioral medicine

DOI

EISSN

1613-9860

ISSN

1869-6716

Publication Date

May 2022

Volume

12

Issue

4

Start / End Page

535 / 543

Related Subject Headings

  • Societies
  • Humans
  • Health Policy
  • Behavioral Medicine
  • 52 Psychology
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
  • 1112 Oncology and Carcinogenesis
  • 1103 Clinical Sciences