A Systematic Review of Adaptation Practices to Promote Health Resilience in Response to Climate Change

Highlights

• Indigenous knowledge systems, such as herbal remedies and local climate predictions, are essential in regions with limited healthcare access, offering context-specific, culturally rooted solutions to climate-induced health risks.

• Social practices, including community health programs and support networks, enhance collective resilience by fostering resource sharing and local health interventions during climate events.

• Tools like telemedicine, early warning systems, and health information networks significantly strengthen public health responses, particularly in vulnerable, resource-scarce areas.

• Strengthening policies, building capacity, and ensuring cross-sectoral collaboration are critical for scaling up adaptive health strategies. The review underscores the need for sustained funding and institutional support, especially in low-income regions.

Abstract

Climate change represents substantial global health challenges, especially in precarious areas where the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events and environmental changes are rapidly deteriorating the public health systems. This systematic literature review qualitatively examines adaptation practices designed to boost health resilience in response to climate change by synthesizing 16 peer-reviewed articles published between 2004 and 2023 following the PRISMA guidelines. Four key adaptation themes emerged through thematic analysis: traditional and local knowledge, social and community practices, technological practices, and organizational practices, with each theme including four sub-themes. This review reveals that traditional knowledge systems, particularly those within indigenous and rural communities, have an important role in tackling health vulnerabilities in settings with limited cutting-edge healthcare. Social and community-based responses are fundamental for sharing the risk of these rapid events among communities. At the same time, technological interventions like telemedicine, early warning systems, and health information systems provide essential tools to deal with acute health risks. It is crucial to secure the scaling-up of adaptation and continuity of the health systems withstanding climate change through organizational practices such as policy-making, capacity development, and intersectoral collaboration. These results highlight the importance of undertaking an inclusive approach toward the integration of traditional and modern healthcare systems, monitoring community involvement as well as utilizing technological solutions that could optimize health services. This review accordingly presents a holistic guide for guiding the attention of policy-makers, practitioners, and researchers on enhancing adaptive capacities to respond to climate change and ensure public health protection.