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The Role of Planetary Health in the Context of Healthcare Sustainability; An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices of Healthcare Sector Workers in Egypt

Introduction: Climate change imposes escalating threats to human health and well-being globally. The healthcare sector, as a key contributor to environmental degradation, must address its ecological footprint while supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation policies that promote planetary h...

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Main Author: Abdelhafez, Marwa
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2025
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access_status_str Open Access
author Abdelhafez, Marwa
author_browse Abdelhafez, Marwa
author_facet Abdelhafez, Marwa
author_sort Abdelhafez, Marwa
collection Thesis
description Introduction: Climate change imposes escalating threats to human health and well-being globally. The healthcare sector, as a key contributor to environmental degradation, must address its ecological footprint while supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation policies that promote planetary health. This study investigates Egyptian healthcare professionals' awareness, attitudes, and practices regarding planetary health and healthcare sustainability and explores barriers to their implementation. With healthcare at the frontlines of climate change impacts, assessing professionals' readiness for this role, provides evidence to mobilize Egyptian health systems to safeguard community health within a climate-challenged future. This study addresses a critical knowledge gap and stimulates progress toward sustainable healthcare in Egypt. Methods: A cross-sectional study design used a standardized questionnaire to measure the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of the healthcare sector personnel in Egypt. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive, correlation, and regression methods. Results: The findings highlight current gaps in the climate literacy of healthcare workers revealing moderate knowledge levels (52%) and a notable disparity between attitudes (77%) and sustainable practices (18%). The findings also provide a perspective on incorporating sustainability into healthcare delivery, as it recognizes the lack of time, awareness, and patient interest as the main barriers to implementing sustainable health practices in Egypt. Conclusion: This research provides baseline data on Egyptian healthcare practitioners' readiness to incorporate planetary health principles into their medical practice. The findings can inform educational policies and interventions to build the healthcare workforce's capacity for planetary health, enabling the sector to exemplify sustainability leadership and contribute to the global efforts in its war against climate change and advancing planetary health.
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id oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3480
institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:55.364Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
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spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3480 The Role of Planetary Health in the Context of Healthcare Sustainability; An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices of Healthcare Sector Workers in Egypt Abdelhafez, Marwa Introduction: Climate change imposes escalating threats to human health and well-being globally. The healthcare sector, as a key contributor to environmental degradation, must address its ecological footprint while supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation policies that promote planetary health. This study investigates Egyptian healthcare professionals' awareness, attitudes, and practices regarding planetary health and healthcare sustainability and explores barriers to their implementation. With healthcare at the frontlines of climate change impacts, assessing professionals' readiness for this role, provides evidence to mobilize Egyptian health systems to safeguard community health within a climate-challenged future. This study addresses a critical knowledge gap and stimulates progress toward sustainable healthcare in Egypt. Methods: A cross-sectional study design used a standardized questionnaire to measure the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of the healthcare sector personnel in Egypt. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive, correlation, and regression methods. Results: The findings highlight current gaps in the climate literacy of healthcare workers revealing moderate knowledge levels (52%) and a notable disparity between attitudes (77%) and sustainable practices (18%). The findings also provide a perspective on incorporating sustainability into healthcare delivery, as it recognizes the lack of time, awareness, and patient interest as the main barriers to implementing sustainable health practices in Egypt. Conclusion: This research provides baseline data on Egyptian healthcare practitioners' readiness to incorporate planetary health principles into their medical practice. The findings can inform educational policies and interventions to build the healthcare workforce's capacity for planetary health, enabling the sector to exemplify sustainability leadership and contribute to the global efforts in its war against climate change and advancing planetary health. 2025-02-19T08:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2450 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3480/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Planetary Health Climate Change Healthcare Workers Healthcare Sustainability Environmental Public Health
spellingShingle Planetary Health
Climate Change
Healthcare Workers
Healthcare Sustainability
Environmental Public Health
Abdelhafez, Marwa
The Role of Planetary Health in the Context of Healthcare Sustainability; An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices of Healthcare Sector Workers in Egypt
title The Role of Planetary Health in the Context of Healthcare Sustainability; An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices of Healthcare Sector Workers in Egypt
title_full The Role of Planetary Health in the Context of Healthcare Sustainability; An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices of Healthcare Sector Workers in Egypt
title_fullStr The Role of Planetary Health in the Context of Healthcare Sustainability; An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices of Healthcare Sector Workers in Egypt
title_full_unstemmed The Role of Planetary Health in the Context of Healthcare Sustainability; An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices of Healthcare Sector Workers in Egypt
title_short The Role of Planetary Health in the Context of Healthcare Sustainability; An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices of Healthcare Sector Workers in Egypt
title_sort role of planetary health in the context of healthcare sustainability an assessment of the knowledge attitudes practices of healthcare sector workers in egypt
topic Planetary Health
Climate Change
Healthcare Workers
Healthcare Sustainability
Environmental Public Health
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2450
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3480/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf
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