Climate and health patient education

Role of health care professionals

Every American’s health is at risk from climate change. We are already seeing worsening air quality, increases in vector-borne diseases and heat-related illnesses, as well as mental health impacts from devastation to communities due to extreme weather events like floods and storms. Patients and communities trust their health care providers to warn them of risks to their health and offer them recommendations about how to best protect themselves over both the short and long term. Health care providers play a critical role in helping to reduce the health impacts associated with climate change by educating patients and their families about how to reduce risk and engage in activities that will promote a healthy climate for all.

We hope you will use the free materials below to educate your patient population about how climate change is affecting their health and how they can take action to protect themselves and their families.


Climate Council brochure and poster on extreme heat

Extreme heat

The U.S. Health Care Climate Council produced a patient education brochure, Climate Change and Your Health: Extreme Heat, and a companion poster. The free materials were developed in collaboration with medical professionals and communications experts and were designed to motivate people to take action to protect their health. The brochure is available in both English and Spanish.

Download an electronic copy of the brochure and poster


Inova resource booklets on climate and health

children's health

Inova Health System created patient education brochures on four different topics related to climate and health: 

The brochures are free and available for download at Inova’s website.


UCSF Climate Changes Health poster series

climate and health

University of California San Francisco produced a poster series to educate their community on how climate change is impacting health. The series includes six posters on the following topics: air quality, pollen, cardiovascular disease, floods, air pollution, infectious disease, extreme heat, and algae. The poster series is free for download and available for customization.

You can view the full series on the UCSF website and request customization.


American College of Physicians resource

The American College of Physicians has a free and easy-to-understand patient education resource called “Patient FACTS: Climate Change and Your Health” that explains how climate change can affect health and gives examples of what patients can do to reduce their impact on the environment.

You can download the resource at the organization’s climate and health resource page.


Waiting room brochures from My Green Doctor

My Green Doctor has a series of waiting room brochures that help patients understand and prepare for the health risks of climate change.

You can download the brochures from the My Green Doctor website and add your own logo and content. 


Public Health Institute poster series

climate change and food

The Public Health Institute has produced a series of posters to help the public understand the health impacts of climate change and what they can do to protect themselves and the planet. 

You can download the free posters and other resources at the PHI website.


City of Boston fact sheets

The Office of Public Health Preparedness at the Boston Public Health Commission developed a series of fact sheets on extreme heat and health for different populations. The fact sheets have been translated into 10 languages.

Extreme heat fact sheets