Perceived Health Risk of Climate Change and Public Support for Sustainable Health Policies in South Korea
DW Hosmer, Seung-sik HwangBackground
Climate change poses significant health threats globally, while healthcare systems contribute substantially to greenhouse gas emissions. Understanding public support for sustainable healthcare policies is crucial for policy implementation. This study examined the association between climate change health risk perception and support for sustainable healthcare policies in South Korea after accounting for general climate change concern and relevant covariates.
Methods
A national cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 1,500 Korean adults aged ≥19 years from August 29 to September 7, 2022. Participants were recruited from an online research panel using stratified proportionate quota sampling based on the national distributions of gender, age, and region. Binary logistic regression models were used to examine associations between perceived health risk from climate change and support for six sustainable healthcare policies, with adjustment for climate change concern and relevant demographic, socioeconomic, health-related, and household covariates.
Results
A majority of the public supported all six sustainable healthcare policies. After adjusting for covariates, higher perceived health risk from climate change was significantly associated with support across all policy domains. The strongest association was observed for Eco-friendly Dietary Options (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.42–1.96), whereas the weakest association was observed for Telemedicine Services (aOR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.09–1.47).
Conclusions
Perceived health risk from climate change was independently associated with public support for sustainable healthcare policies in South Korea. These findings suggest that framing healthcare decarbonization initiatives in terms of health protection and co-benefits may offer an additional communication approach alongside environmental framing.