New Drought Response Guide for Health Professionals

From worsening water quality to respiratory and mental health impacts, drought can have profound and widespread impacts on the health of communities across the nation. To better prepare health professionals for responding to the health effects of drought, a research team from the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health recently released a new guide, Drought and Health: A Messaging Framework for Public Health Professionals and Healthcare Providers. This guide aims to help healthcare providers and public health officials communicate about the health risks of drought with their patients and broader communities.

“Drought is often overlooked as a human health threat in the United States. However, we are starting to better identify the health impacts of drought. For example, our team has identified increases in respiratory mortality, heat-related mortality, and reported stress associated with drought events,” said guide co-author, Jesse Bell. 

The guide is a product of a multi-year effort supported by NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Health & Air Quality Program, and the Claire M. Hubbard Foundation. 

“Through our previous outreach work, we were able to hear about some of the fantastic research being conducted relating to drought and health across the country. There was an apparent need, however, to translate that research into practical tools which could lead to better health outcomes in drought-stricken communities. This messaging framework was created to be just such a tool,” said Rachel Lookadoo, a co-author of the new guide. 

Incorporating contributions from an interdisciplinary team of experts representing healthcare, public health, mental and behavioral health, and health communication, the guide includes practical steps and guidance that health professionals can take to discuss drought with their patients and communities. 

“Public health and healthcare professionals represent a heavily burdened workforce, who juggle many important tasks and don’t necessarily have time to seek out additional education on drought and its health impacts. By creating and sharing this messaging framework, our hope is to ease some of the burdens on these critical providers and improve the overall health of communities most affected by drought," said Lookadoo.

NIDIS and the research team hope that this guide will be a building block for future research and outreach on the health impacts of drought and other climate-related disasters. 

“Drought health impacts are part of a series of cascading events that can involve reduced drinking water quantities and quality, poor air quality from wildfires linked to droughts and, in the longer term, poor nutrition from food security issues,” said Sylvia Reeves, a Drought Information Coordinator with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder and NIDIS. “The Messaging Framework tool steps through the process of generating collaborative and science-based communications that create awareness of drought impacts and effective response actions that help mitigate health threats.”

Drought and Health: A Messaging Framework for Public Health Professionals and Healthcare Providers is now available online. 

For more information, please contact Summer Woolsey or visit the Water, Climate and Health Program.