Rural local health departments (LHDs) are on the frontlines of climate change. However, rural health departments may face unique challenges when developing or scaling up their climate activities, including less baseline capacity for applying to funding and grant opportunities, hiring and retaining specialized staff, and dedicating resources to climate activities due to political constraints.
NACCHO has developed a practical guide to support rural health departments in their efforts to build a climate-ready workforce. Rural LHDs can refer to this guide when building a climate and health program for the first time, or when scaling up their programs to increase their climate response and adaptation capacity. Although this guide is tailored to assist rural LHDs, the activities may be adaptable to LHDs of varying capacities. The guide provides tiers of program development and staffing activities, from baseline to advanced, for staffing, training, and climate and health program development.
Topics covered include:
- Surveillance
- Partnerships
- Communication
- Workforce development
- Mental health and well-being
Click here to download the guide.
Additional resources:
