Research and Engagement on Adaptation for Climate and Health

Project Summary/Abstract Once considered a distant threat, climate change is now dramatically increasing the likelihood of potentially preventable adverse impacts on human health and wellbeing.1 Implementing evidence-based policies, programs, and interventions, collectively called adaptation, is an urgent challenge.2 Prioritizing evidence-based adaptation interventions should be based on community perspective and priorities, practitioner expertise, and scientific information on risks and risk reduction effectiveness.3 Implementation science can support adaptation at scale by identifying factors affecting uptake of evidence-based interventions.4,5 The mission of the University of Washington (UW) Research and Engagement on Adaptation for Climate and Health (REACH) Center is to leverage implementation science in support of implementing evidence-based health adaptation at scale. The University of Washington is an outstanding setting for developing an adaptation-focused climate and health research center. The UW is a leading research institution with large training programs in the health sciences and an outstanding record of community engaged research. The institution has strength in multiple relevant disciplines and in implementation science in several domains, but does not yet have implementation science programming focused on community-engaged climate change adaptation in the health sector. The REACH Center’s focus on implementation science to advance adaptation is a key innovation in the field, and the Center will also advance several other innovations, including a novel climate and health decision support tool (the Climate and Health Risk Tool, or CHaRT), a new climate and health implementation science curriculum, a new interdisciplinary planetary health curriculum at the UW School of Medicine, a suite of pilot climate and health intervention activities in communities in the Pacific Northwest, and community engagement activities in support of the research project and the climate and health interventions.