Introduction

Climate change and sustainability are at the forefront of current events. According to the United Nations, we are experiencing accelerated global warming due to human activities and it will take a united effort to slow this trend. Hypothetically if global health care was a country, it would be considered to be the fifth-largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. As healthcare professionals, we must expand the concept of ‘do no harm’ to our planet, and physiotherapists are uniquely situated to help decrease healthcare’s carbon footprint and the release of pharmaceutical pollutants into the world’s water cycle. This course aims to introduce the concept of sustainable healthcare and highlights the role physiotherapists can play in decreasing healthcare’s carbon footprint and environmental pollution.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course you will be able to:

• explain the concept of sustainable healthcare and why it is important to achieve it
• describe the sources of healthcare’s carbon footprint
• discuss how physiotherapy can help to decrease a hospital's carbon footprint
• discuss how NSAIDs affect aquatic environments, and how physiotherapy can help to decrease aquatic pharmaceutical pollution
• justify the role of physiotherapy as a driver in the future of sustainable healthcare

Target audience

This course is aimed at Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy clinicians, students and assistants. Other interested professionals such as athletic trainers, occupational therapists, nurses or medical doctors interested in this subject are also invited to participate.

Practicalities

• Availability - this course is online and can be completed on your own schedule.
• Hours of Learning - No deadlines are applied to this course and it can be started and completed in your own time according to your personal schedule. We expect the required elements to take around 1-1.5 hours depending on your schedule and learning style. Additionally there are many optional resources provided and if you choose to review these the course could take longer to complete.
• Types of Activities - This course includes instructional and/or practical videos, reading activities, AI supported learning activities, reflection, evaluation forms, a quiz and additional resources.
• Certificates - At the end of the course, when you have completed all of the required elements, you will be able to download a certificate of completion and 1 Plus points will be added to your personalised learning dashboard.

Instructor financial and non-financial disclosures

Srishti Banerjee: No relevant relationships disclosed by instructor.

Accessibility and Non-Discrimination Policy

Physiopedia Plus is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible learning environment for all participants. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, national origin, religion, sex, disability, military status, sexual orientation or age in any aspect of our continuing education services. We are dedicated to ensuring that all learners can fully participate in our programmes. Participants who require accommodations or have special needs are encouraged to contact us with details so that we can make all reasonable efforts to meet these requirements.