Table 3.
Articles reporting a single aid to support greening family medicine clinic operations and care.
| Author | Knowledge user | Focus on clinic operations or clinical care | Aim | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babatunde23 2018 Nigeria |
Clinic manager | Clinic operations | To introduce concept of “demand-side management (DSM)” and how it can lead to carbon footprint reduction, with a special focus on opportunities in rural health clinic settings | Chapter of book titled, “Environmental Carbon Footprints—Industrial Case Studies” |
| Barlow44 2017 United States |
Clinic manager | Clinic operations | To inform healthcare resource and material mangers on implementing initiatives addressing sustainability | Commentary with suggested checklist for management changes |
| Blau24 2016 Canada |
Primary care provider; specialist care provider; clinic manager | Clinic operations | To motivate and educate the need for greening healthcare and share a primer and checklist for greener family medicine clinics | Commentary with suggestions. Emphasizes need to ensure family medicine educational settings commit to “environment in everyday work” and proposes role of learners as conduits for change Promotes use of Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education |
| Gillam25 2011 United Kingdom |
Primary care provider | Clinic operations and clinical care | To explore what is needed in registrar (resident) training to prepare GPs for role in developing more sustainable healthcare system to protect population health | Commentary with suggested checklist for management and clinical care changes |
| Horton26 2007 Australia |
Primary care provider | Clinical care | To highlight areas that general practitioners (GPs) could engage with patients and the broader community to promote sustainable healthcare, addressing individual and environmental health simultaneously | Commentary with suggested clinical care changes |
| Magzamen47 2011 United States |
Specialist care provider | Clinic operations and clinical care | To review effects of 3 environmental contaminants and discuss ways paediatricians can act as individuals and through advocacy to impact these | Reviewed methylmercury, lead and asthma and discussed clinical care strategies to identify and support patients at risk. Also discussed advocacy as a means of supporting community level change to mitigate causal environmental toxins |
| Murchie28 2007 United Kingdom |
Primary care provider; clinic manager | Clinical care | To evaluate the environmental impact of a complex healthcare intervention and determine if evidence supports a primary care, GP follow-up model for melanoma | Partial carbon footprint analysis of clinical care pathway using life-cycle analysis tool. One year of GP follow-up versus hospital revealed a conservative reduction of 39 g CO2 in 1 year |
| Nicolet30 2022 Switzerland |
Primary care provider; clinic manager | Clinic operations | To quantify the average carbon footprint of a primary care consultation, describe differences between primary care practices (best, worst, and average performing) in western Switzerland and identify opportunities for mitigation | Average practice produced 30 tonnes of CO2/year, 45.7% from staff and patient transport, 29.8% for heating. Simulation of best and worst scenarios demonstrated a 10-fold difference |
| Phipps31 2011 New Zealand |
Primary care provider; clinic manager | Clinic operations | To provide an overview of climate change-related impacts in New Zealand and tips to green general practice | Summary of potential health impacts on climate change on New Zealand List of tips for greening general practice across several areas. Directs to Greening Your Practice Toolkit greeningyourpractice@gmail.com (see toolkits). |
| Podein50 2010 United States |
Primary care provider; specialist care provider; clinic manager | Clinic operations and clinical care | To introduce concepts of sustainability, give practice pearls and resources for physicians and clinic managers | Provides background and introduces resources. A resource is truncated, and a checklist created, based on Practice Greenhealth by Teleosis (see Table 2). Recommends footprintnetwork.org for individual carbon footprint analysis |
| Last40 2021 United Kingdom |
Primary care; allied team; clinic manager | Clinical care | To introduce environmentally conscious respiratory disease management to providers, with inclusion of environmental contributors, diagnosis, management, and medication choices | Description of strategies to reduce the environmental impact of respiratory disease management |
| Tait33 2018 Australia |
Primary care provider | Clinical care | To introduce GPs to heat-related morbidity and mortality and present a model to guide clinical care and prevention including primordial (societal level advocacy activity), primary and secondary prevention. Illustrated by a case study | Shows how GPs can act at all 3 levels of prevention |
| Ulrich48 2010 United States |
Primary care provider; clinic manager | Clinic operations | To discuss why doctors need to be conscious of the environment and offer suggestions for implementing eco-friendly behaviours into their medical practices | Commentary with suggested checklist for management changes |
| Walsh51 2018 United Kingdom |
Primary care provider; clinic manager | Clinic operations | To determine the environmental impact, carbon footprint, of completing e-learning for continuing professional development | High users of e-learning (>30 h/year, assuming 50 h/year average) can reduce their carbon footprint by 18.5 kg of CO2, through reduction of travel and relatively small amount of reduction from printing |