Continue Your Learning

Occupational Therapy Resources

Research & Scholarship

Johnson, S.S. et al. (2020). Knowing Well, Being Well: well-being born of understanding: Climate Change & Well-Being: The Role for Health Promotion Professionals. American Journal of Health Promotion, 35(1), 140-152. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117120970334

World Federation of Occupational Therapists. (2018). Sustainability matters: Guiding principles for sustainability in occupational therapy practice, education, and scholarship

World Federation of Occupational Therapists. (2012). Environmental sustainability, sustainable practice within occupational therapy.

Organizations

  • OT Susnet - Centre for Sustainable Healthcare.

    • A network for occupational therapy practitioners, students and educators interested in exploring sustainable practice and looking for resources. 

  • Community of Occupational Therapy Committed to Equity and the Environment (C4E)

    • A group of OT practitioners who meet bi-yearly, as a sub-working group, in order to address the climate emergency and negative impacts of human occupations on the ecological crisis.

Videos

General Climate Resources

Articles & News Reports

CASCADES (2024). Sustainable occupational therapy playbook. Retrieved from https://cascadescanada.ca/resources/occupational-therapy-playbook/

Scientific American “What Climate Change Does to The Human Body” https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-climate-change-does-to-the-human-body

Williamson, K. (2018). Climate Change Needs Behavioral Change. Center for Behavior and the Environment. https://rare.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2018-CCNBC-Report.pdf

CLIMATE 101: Disability and the Climate Crisis. The Climate Reality Project. https://www.climaterealityproject.org/sites/default/files/disability-and-the-climate-crisis-fact-sheet-06-2021-v2.pdf

Podcasts

  • How to Save a Planet 

    • “A show about climate change that [leaves] you feeling energized… [and a show] so filled with possibility that you actually wanted to listen”.

  • A Matter of Degrees

    • For “the climate curious people who know climate change is a problem, but are trying to figure out how to tackle it”.

  • Climate Clinic

    • “Through four unique podcasts,” you can access “breaking climate and health headlines, in-depth discussions with experts and professionals from situations unfolding around the world, mobilize and share perspectives”

Organizations

  • Citizens Climate Lobby

    • “A nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy climate change organization focused on national policies to address climate change”.

  • Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD)

    • “The world's preeminent occupational therapy organization doing work in justice, equity, diversity, inclusion (JEDI), anti-racism and anti-oppression, [COTAD is] a network of OT practitioners, students, and educators working to make health equity a priority at all levels of healthcare”.

  • Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE)

    • “Advancing global health security and educating professionals on the effects of climate change”

  • Planetary Health Alliance

    • A consortium of over 240 universities, non-governmental organizations, research institutes, and government entities from around the world committed to understanding and addressing global environmental change and its health impacts.

  • The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health 

    • “Brings together associations representing over 600,000 clinical practitioners to convey that climate change is harming Americans, we must decrease decrease our use of fossil fuels and increase use of clean energy sources; and

      • These changes in energy choices will improve the quality of our air and water and bring immediate health benefits.

  • Practice Greenhealth

    • Sustainability Solutions for Healthcare-is the leading membership organization for sustainable health care, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,100 U.S. hospitals and health systems.

  • Health Care Without Harm

    • seeks to transform health care globally so that it reduces its environmental footprint, becoming a community mainstay for sustainability and leading in the global movement for environmental health and justice.

  • TED Countdown

  • JenLo Farm

    • located in Longmont, Colorado, provides occupational therapy in a natural setting.The clinic is a small farm where the clients interact with animals, plants, the seasons, and perform farm chores as part of their therapy.

Movies and Documentaries

  • Kiss the Ground

  • 2040

  • An Inconvenient Truth & An Inconvenient Sequel

  • Fire in Paradise

  • Chasing Coral

  • Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret 

  • Cooked: Survival by Zipcode