April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Climate Health Solutions News as a Health Communication Innovation
The health impacts of climate change are worsening, affecting every aspect of global health and exacerbating existing health inequalities (Romanello et al., 2022). Although news media is the main way people learn about climate change (Newman et al., 2019) and health (Schwitzer et al., 2005) as scientific, social, and policy issues, scant news coverage focuses on the health-related aspects of climate change (Weathers, 2013; Weathers & Kendall, 2016). Furthermore, years of ‘doom and gloom’ reporting about other aspects of the climate crisis has paralyzed and disempowered news audiences, erroneously suggesting that climate action is futile (Hackett et al., 2017; Painter, 2019). In response, some scholars and practitioners suggest that solutions journalism, the emerging practice of reporting objective, credible responses to social problems, may re-engage audiences and provide information needed for society to scale up climate action (Guenther et al., 2022; Painter, 2019). Initial research about solutions journalism generally suggests it increases readers’ positive affect (e.g., McIntyre & Sobel, 2017), reduces audience negative affect (e.g., Overgaard, 2021a, 2021b), and improves media trust (Thier et al., 2021). In the context of climate change, solutions news about building resilence to climate-induced flooding was positively associated with readers’ perceived behavioral control (i.e., self-efficacy), in turn increasing support for climate policy action, compared with a problem-oriented story about climate-induced flooding (Thier & Lin, 2022). Furthermore, a recent survey of news consumers in eight countries reveal an audience preference for climate solutions journalism over investigative or watchdog news (Ejaz et al., 2023).
While individuals globally know relatively little about the health relevance of climate change, informing them about impacts and solutions holds significant promise for increasing public engagement with the issue and building support for climate solutions (Kotcher et al., 2021; Uppalapati et al., 2023). Yet climate solutions journalism rarely mentions climate health impacts and the extent of solutions journalism about responses to such impacts is unknown (AUTHOR, in press; King et al., 2019). In this paper, we argue that preparing journalists to cover climate health solutions is critical to addressing the mounting health risks and building support for equitable responses. Specifically, we offer theoretical and practical guidance based on the public health model of journalism (e.g., Dorfman et al., 2005) and climate science. The public health model of journalism contends reporters should frame health problems in terms of environmental causes and policy solutions, rather than a matter of individual responsibility, with the goal of driving political participation and collective action (Coleman et al., 2011; Dorfman et al., 2005; Hatley Major, 2009). We suggest such an approach to reporting climate health impacts is warranted as climate change, and the resulting health crises, are global problems that require public pressure and collective action to drive policy. To ground such coverage in climate science, we suggest journalists center climate-health news on the eight climate health-harm pathways (such as vector-borne illness, extreme heat, mental health) (Kotcher et al., 2018) and the seven solution pathways (such as renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and improved built-living environments) (Kotcher et al., 2021).
While individuals globally know relatively little about the health relevance of climate change, informing them about impacts and solutions holds significant promise for increasing public engagement with the issue and building support for climate solutions (Kotcher et al., 2021; Uppalapati et al., 2023). Yet climate solutions journalism rarely mentions climate health impacts and the extent of solutions journalism about responses to such impacts is unknown (AUTHOR, in press; King et al., 2019). In this paper, we argue that preparing journalists to cover climate health solutions is critical to addressing the mounting health risks and building support for equitable responses. Specifically, we offer theoretical and practical guidance based on the public health model of journalism (e.g., Dorfman et al., 2005) and climate science. The public health model of journalism contends reporters should frame health problems in terms of environmental causes and policy solutions, rather than a matter of individual responsibility, with the goal of driving political participation and collective action (Coleman et al., 2011; Dorfman et al., 2005; Hatley Major, 2009). We suggest such an approach to reporting climate health impacts is warranted as climate change, and the resulting health crises, are global problems that require public pressure and collective action to drive policy. To ground such coverage in climate science, we suggest journalists center climate-health news on the eight climate health-harm pathways (such as vector-borne illness, extreme heat, mental health) (Kotcher et al., 2018) and the seven solution pathways (such as renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and improved built-living environments) (Kotcher et al., 2021).