Getting Started: Patient engagement for sustainability in healthcare
The healthcare sector is undergoing a paradigm shift towards sustainability. Its leaders increasingly acknowledge the interconnectedness of public health and environmental wellbeing.
There is also growing recognitition from hospitals and healthcare organizations about the importance of incorporating patient voices into their sustainability initiatives.
Hussain Jafri, Executive Director of the World Patients Alliance, shares insights on the importance and benefits of engaging with patients when designing and delivering sustainable healthcare for our communities.
Why engage with patients?
Short-term benefits of engaging patients for sustainability include a rapid increase in the adoption of eco-friendly practices within the hospital setting. Actively involved patients are more inclined to follow energy conservation and waste reduction strategies.
In the long term, sustained patient engagement contributes to the development of a culture of
environmental and health equity responsibility in the community. This creates a positive feedback loop where engaged patients becoming advocates for the health systems’ sustainability and public health goals.
Benefits of engaging with patients
Health and wellbeing
Engaging patients in sustainability initiatives empowers them to take an active role in their wellbeing. This promotes a holistic approach that includes environmental consciousness as a part of overall wellbeing.
Promoting healthier lifestyle choices (from active travel to sustainable food) helps contribute to preventative health measures, which reduce the burden on healthcare systems.
Active travel goes beyond walking and cycling and also includes trips made by wheelchair, mobility scooters, adapted cycles, e-cycles, or scooters.
By incorporating green spaces within the hospital and its surroundings, healthcare services can provide the ‘best possible environment and experience’ for patients and their families.
Environmental benefits
Produce prescription – part of a growing effort in healthcare to provide food as medicine. Produce prescriptions have the potential to prevent or improve chronic health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and blood pressure.
Green prescribing – the practice of supporting people to engage in nature-based interventions and activities to improve their mental and physical health. Physicians in Canada are prescribing time in nature with passes to their country’s national parks and marine conservation areas. Shinrin yoku or forest bathing has been a practice in Japan since 1982.
Community benefits
Civic engagement and social connectivity – Sustainability initiatives create a platform for civic engagement fostering a sense of community building. Shared environment goals create a sense of unity and shared purpose among patients and community members.
Long-term cost savings
Sustainability projects can often lead to more efficient use of resources within hospitals.
Telemedicine is increasingly used in all settings and is often quoted as an alternative way to deliver low-carbon care. Not only does it imply fewer patient visits (reduced transportation), but also a reduction in unnecessary services and materials used. A reduction in waste means an increase in savings.
By recognizing these health and operational benefits, hospitals could inform and empower patients at the same time as having an impact on patient health.
Educational opportunities
Health and environmental literacy – Engaging patients in sustainability initiatives provides educational opportunities to enhance health and environmental literacy. Informed patients are better equipped to make choices that positively impact their health and, in turn, the environment.
Lifelong learning – This can often lead to lifelong learning opportunities for patients, building a culture of awareness and personal development.
Investing in communities – MP Shah Hospital, Kenya
MP Shah Hospital in Kenya has taken an active role in engaging with its communities. They began by investing in cross-sectoral partnerships with organizations around Kenya to launch the Greener Future Initiative.
MP Shah is engaged in tree growing of indigenous fruits which in turn feeds the communities that tend to it. Farmers have nurseries with the trees and seedlings for other people to come to buy the trees – created a source of income for those farmers that can send the children to school. They have, so far, been able to plant 10,000 trees in Thiba.
