Exploring the health context : a multimethod approach to climate change adaptation evaluation

Climate change is a major environmental Public Health issue of the 21st century. Extreme heat and cold, weather events such as flooding or storms, disease vector distribution changes, and increased pathogen loads in water might all put human health at risk. To protect health from inevitable changes, climate change adaptation strategies are implemented at local, national, and global level. Are these measures effectively reducing health risks? This dissertation explores multiple methods to evaluate climate change adaptation to increase our understanding of the contextual requirements for measurement of effects. Health-related climate change adaptation is situated within theories of place and placebased vulnerability. Targeting two core research questions on effectiveness of adaptation and on useful approaches to evaluation, this mixed methods work combines a systematic review, policy analysis, risk factor modeling, situational analysis, and theoretical framework development on cases from Europe and Japan. The systematic review on effectiveness of heat adaptation showed challenges concerning attributing health outcomes directly to specific adaptation measures via epidemiological methods. Without conclusive evidence for individual adaptation items, emphasis instead is placed on policy evaluation, on risk factor distribution changes, and on local or â on the groundâ adaptation. The data suggest that reframing effectiveness towards inequality and vulnerability reduction is a promising strategy for evaluation while dealing with gaps in the causal chains between adaptation and health outcomes. Based on these findings, I argue that adaptation evaluation in Public Health could apply a portfolio of methods and theory-based solutions informed by structural prevention measures, qualitative methods such as context mapping, and transformation as a philosophy of change. Most importantly, a conceptual re-thinking of adaptation evaluation is suggested that positions social justice and place-based vulnerability concepts as imperatives for successful adaptation

Der Gesundheits-Kontext : ein multimethodischer Ansatz zur Evaluierung von Anpassungsmaßnahmen an den Klimawandel

Climate change is a major environmental Public Health issue of the 21st century. Extreme heat and cold, weather events such as flooding or storms, disease vector distribution changes, and increased pathogen loads in water might all put human health at risk. To protect health from inevitable changes, climate change adaptation strategies are implemented at local, national, and global level. Are these measures effectively reducing health risks? This dissertation explores multiple methods to evaluate climate change adaptation to increase our understanding of the contextual requirements for measurement of effects. Health-related climate change adaptation is situated within theories of place and placebased vulnerability. Targeting two core research questions on effectiveness of adaptation and on useful approaches to evaluation, this mixed methods work combines a systematic review, policy analysis, risk factor modeling, situational analysis, and theoretical framework development on cases from Europe and Japan. The systematic review on effectiveness of heat adaptation showed challenges concerning attributing health outcomes directly to specific adaptation measures via epidemiological methods. Without conclusive evidence for individual adaptation items, emphasis instead is placed on policy evaluation, on risk factor distribution changes, and on local or on the ground adaptation. The data suggest that reframing effectiveness towards inequality and vulnerability reduction is a promising strategy for evaluation while dealing with gaps in the causal chains between adaptation and health outcomes. Based on these findings, I argue that adaptation evaluation in Public Health could apply a portfolio of methods and theory-based solutions informed by structural prevention measures, qualitative methods such as context mapping, and transformation as a philosophy of change. Most importantly, a conceptual re-thinking of adaptation evaluation is suggested that positions social justice and place-based vulnerability concepts as imperatives for successful adaptation

Exploring the health context: A qualitative study of local heat and climate change adaptation in Japan

Böckmann M. Exploring the health context: A qualitative study of local heat and climate change adaptation in Japan. Geoforum. 2016;73:1-5

Internationale Rekrutierung und Migration von Ärztinnen, Ärzten und Personal in Gesundheitsfachberufen: ein qualitatives Scoping Review der Public Health Literatur

Whittal A, Böckmann M. Internationale Rekrutierung und Migration von Ärztinnen, Ärzten und Personal in Gesundheitsfachberufen: ein qualitatives Scoping Review der Public Health Literatur. Ethik in der Medizin. 2018;30(3):263-283

Klimawandel und Gesundheit: Neue Herausforderungen für Public Health

Böckmann M, Hornberg C. Klimawandel und Gesundheit: Neue Herausforderungen für Public Health. Public Health Forum. 2020;28(1):81-83.Public Health hat vielfältige Möglichkeiten, gesundheitlichen Folgen des Klimawandels proaktiv zu begegnen. Neben Forschung zu Auswirkungen klimatischer Veränderungen, Nebeneffekten von Klimaschutz- und zur Wirksamkeit von Anpassungsmaßnahmen kommt Public Health-Expert*innen eine bedeutende Rolle in Prävention und Behandlung von klimawandelbedingten Gesundheitsstörungen zu. Erforderliches Wissen gilt es in Public Health- und Medizin-Curricula zu vermitteln. Weitere Aufgaben sind systematische Reduktionen von CO2-Emissionen im Gesundheitssektor und Umsetzung von Klimaanpassungsmaßnahmen

Justice and Equity Implications of Climate Change Adaptation: A Theoretical Evaluation Framework

Böckmann M, Zeeb H. Justice and Equity Implications of Climate Change Adaptation: A Theoretical Evaluation Framework. Healthcare. 2016;4(3): 65

Is planned adaptation to heat reducing heat-related mortality and illness? A systematic review

Böckmann M, Rohn I. Is planned adaptation to heat reducing heat-related mortality and illness? A systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2014;14(1): 1112

Using a Social Justice and Health Framework to Assess European Climate Change Adaptation Strategies

Böckmann M, Zeeb H. Using a Social Justice and Health Framework to Assess European Climate Change Adaptation Strategies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2014;11(12):12389-12411

Old health risks in new places? An ecological niche model for I. ricinus tick distribution in Europe under a changing climate

Böckmann M, Joyner TA. Old health risks in new places? An ecological niche model for I. ricinus tick distribution in Europe under a changing climate. Health & Place. 2014;30:70-77

The Use of Tobacco, E-Cigarettes, and Methods to Quit Smoking in Germany

Kotz D, Böckmann M, Kastaun S. The Use of Tobacco, E-Cigarettes, and Methods to Quit Smoking in Germany. Deutsches Aerzteblatt international. 2018;115:235-242