How is Occupational Therapy Linked to Climate Change?

Occupational therapy holds unique values and, subsequently, unique roles like assessing, facilitating, modifying, and upholding occupation. As healthcare professionals, occupational therapists are invested in creating the best health outcomes for their clients. Climate change has immediate and direct consequences on our clients’ health. Increasingly common heat waves, floods, and droughts prevent humans from engaging in meaningful and valued occupations. A survey by The Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health (2015) found that a majority of physicians are already seeing climate-related health harms in their patients --” most commonly in the form of increased cardiorespiratory disease (related to air quality and heat), more severe and longer-lasting allergy symptoms, and injuries attributed to extreme weather” (paragraph 3). Scientific American notes that “heat affects every part of our body. It can lead to heat exhaustion, heat stroke, anxiety, impaired cognitive function, and even premature death from heart and lung disease” (Tummala, 2020, paragraph 4).

We acknowledge that the health burden of degraded natural resources disproportionately affects marginalized people and future generations who are least responsible for environmental changes. Our advocacy and allyship will always fall short of creating a society in which all members of “diverse communities…. can function [and] flourish… regardless of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religion, origin, socioeconomic status, [and] degree of ability” (AOTA, 2020b, p.2) if we do not consider the role and effects of the global environment. 

Human occupation is directly linked to climate change as its cause and the root of all solutions. As the healthcare providers who consider the role of occupation in health, it is our responsibility to consider our role guiding occupational choices. Moreover, the environment is already a fundamental part of OT theory and practice. The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (AOTA, 2020a) describes occupation as occurring within a context that includes the natural environment and human-made changes to the environment.  In addition, every occupational therapy model includes the environment as a factor. For example, the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP), the Canadian Model of Occupational Participation (CanMOP), Occupational Adaptation, and the Kawa Model all include the role of the environment in human health. While traditionally the environment component of these models has focused more on a client's immediate or built environment, the models are evolving to consider the impact of the global natural environment, alternatively named the macro environment context in the CanMOP. Some of the models now include examples of the impact of climate change or climate crisis in their textbooks to illustrate how climate emergencies affect people with disabilities and health conditions. 

Around the country, the health impact of the climate crisis is necessitating thousands of healthcare providers, including doctors, pharmacists, therapists, and medical students, to become advocates for change (Tummala, 2020).  If we are to remain current, occupational therapy needs to align with those healthcare providers who have already taken a stand against the worst threat to our clients’ health of the century. Climate change is a public health issue and we have an ethical and moral imperative to address it.