September 9, 2014

“Our nation has both an obligation and self-interest in facing head-on the serious environmental, economic, and natural security threats posed by climate change.” Those words were not spoken by former Vice President Al Gore in “An Inconvenient Truth.” They were spoken by Republican Sen. John McCain.

McCain is quoted in The Psychology of Climate Change Communication, written by Debika Shome and Sabine Marx. (See cred.columbia.edu/guide.)

So psychologists question: “Why aren’t Americans more concerned about climate change?” Unless we feel an immediate threat to our lives and lifestyles, we can easily say that “this won’t affect me, “ “that happens to somebody else,” “that’s thousands of miles away,” or “it’s not real anyway, just the usual change of weather patterns.”

We all suffer what is known as “confirmation bias,” where we seek narratives that support what we already think. We form our mental models and stick to them. Fortunately, we also have the ability to change these mental formations and to correct misinformation. Often times, we hear a person say climate change is not unanimously held and there are questions. In science, however, there are always questions and there may even be a few scientist skeptics (and those few are dwindling: Dr. Richard Muller, a skeptic funded by the Koch Brothers has left that fold of few and gives convincing evidence himself of the role of fossil fuels in the astounding increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.)

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger uses this metaphor for climate change science: “If 98 doctors say my son is ill and needs medication and two say, ‘No, he’s fine,’ I will go with the 98. … the key thing now is that since we know this industrial age has created it, let’s get our act together and do everything we can to roll it back.”

Besides accepting the evidence from numerous studies that climate change is happening and that we are its cause, we also need to reframe our notion of what that means. Climate change is not “just” an environmental issue: its impact is interwoven with health, the economy, and national security. “National security concerns deriving from climate change include the reduction of global food supplies, leading to large migrations of populations, increased risks for infectious diseases, including pandemics that could destabilize economies and governments; and increased fighting over already limited resources like water and land.”

Ah, so considering that last quote, might get us to another psychological response—emotional numbing—the overwhelm at facing what we’ve denied.

An antidote to emotional overwhelm is taking action, moving to personal change and individual responsibility. However, we don’t want to fall prey to another psychological pitfall of “single action bias.” In other words, if your climate change action is to take re-usable bags to the grocery store, don’t stop there. Recycle too. However, “… although recycling is important, it should be but one activity in a series of behavior changes aimed at reducing climate changes. Switching to wind or other renewable energies, consuming less meat, conserving daily energy use, and eating locally grown food are other effective ways to mitigate climate change. …”

It’s sometimes hard to accept the fact of climate change as a steady arc of global warming when September nights are cool and the slant of the light bodes that winter is coming. And when it snows, some commentator bloviates, “What warming?” Well, melting at “glacier speed” is no longer a metaphor for slow. The ice caps are melting. The seas are rising. We can choose to remain in confirmation bias, move to emotional overwhelm, or go a step in the right direction of “simple action bias.” Better yet, let that single step build to a long walk to a better world.

Speaking of walks, there will be a rally/walk for climate change awareness in New York City, Sept. 21—People’s Climate March

For further information, see edf.org/climatemarch
·         “The Psychology of Climate Change Communication,” cred.columbia.edu/guide.
·         yearsoflivingdangerously.com, Web site for the Showtime Networks cable subsidiary of CBS.

 

* Kayta Curzie Gajdos holds a doctorate in counseling psychology and is in private practice in Chadds Ford, Pa. She welcomes comments at MindMatters@DrGajdos.com or 610-388-2888. Past columns are posted to www.drgajdos.com.

On Aug. 27, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration awarded a five-year Level 2 Collective Impact grant to Crozer-Keystone Health System that provides full funding for its Healthy Start program through May 31, 2019. This grant totals $5,536,966 over the next five years, and enables this well-established community program to expand its services as it works with local partners to eliminate perinatal disparities in the Chester area.

Starting in 1997, Crozer-Keystone Healthy Start was developed to address the problem of infant mortality and morbidity in Chester and its surrounding communities under the stewardship of Joanne Craig, MS, administrative director of Crozer-Keystone Women and Children’s Health Services. Through almost two decades of commitment, community outreach, local education and the ability to build critical local partnerships, Healthy Start has had a very positive impact locally. In large part due to their efforts, the infant mortality rate for southeastern Delaware County has been reduced to 15.7/1000 for black non-Hispanic, 4.3/1000 for Hispanic and 2.5/1000 for white non-Hispanic. For comparison, in 1995 the black non-Hispanic infant mortality rate was 22/1000 in southeastern Delaware County.

At the federal level, the Healthy Start program is managed by HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration and has been redesigned to use evidence-based strategies with the goal of further improving program performance. Under this updated model, which was the basis for the recent awarding of grant funding, Crozer-Keystone Healthy Start is required to utilize new tactics and increase its outreach in the communities they serve. Listed below are the updated criteria for Crozer-Keystone Healthy Start over the next five years:

• This program serves the southeast corner of Delaware County that includes Chester, Upland, Eddystone, Woodlyn, Parkside, Chester Township, Marcus Hook, Trainer and Linwood.
• This program is available for pregnant women, expectant fathers, the family and children up to age two. Services include intensive outreach, engagement and recruitment of pregnant women; tiered case management based on assessed need and home visiting; education that focuses on health, parenting, early childhood development, life skills, financial literacy and management, consumer and civil legal information and leadership development. There will be a special effort to engage and recruit fathers for services.
• Pregnant women can enroll from conception to 28 weeks (i.e. 1^st and 2^nd trimesters) and can continue to stay in the program until the child is two years old. Formal partnerships and agreements have been established with several local community partners to assist with services.
• The primary office location remains Community Hospital (2600 West 9^th Street, 1^st Floor) and open enrollment is available Mon.-Fri. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  In addition, mobile enrollment opportunities will place trained case managers with OB/GYN offices, ChesPenn Health Services, Chester-Upland School District, Chichester High School and Ridley High School in the near future.
• Transportation for this program is no longer available.

Through these expanded efforts to positively impact the local community, the federal guidelines require Crozer-Keystone Healthy Start to serve a minimum of 800 people per year, including pregnant women, postpartum women, babies and children. In addition, they must serve a minimum of 400 new pregnant women each year, which is an increase from the previous guidelines of 175 pregnant women annually.

An additional benefit of Crozer-Keystone Healthy Start includes the opportunity for more program members to receive free legal advice through the Medical-Legal Partnership that exists between Widener University School of Law and Crozer-Keystone. This unique partnership was first established in the fall of 2010, and offers an important level of resources for community members that are frequently unable to afford legal advice. Civil and consumer lawyers offer their time and talents to handle civil and consumer legal cases to help the participants and families enrolled in Healthy Start.

Joanne Craig and her dedicated staff are excited by the new challenges, and she comments, “Crozer-Keystone Healthy Start has been at the center of my department’s efforts as we have worked closely with community residents and key partners, and we are humbled by the opportunity in front of us to continue our mission of reducing infant mortality rates. This can only be accomplished through dedicated efforts within the local community, and this five year grant along with its criteria allows for a wonderful opportunity to make a real difference.”

To make an appointment with Crozer-Keystone Healthy Start, call (610) 497-7460. For more information, visit www.crozerkeystone.org, or email Joanne Craig at joanne.craig@crozer.org.

Crozer-Keystone Women and Children’s Health Services has been part of the Delaware County community for more than 20 years. On Sept. 13, they will host an Infant and Children’s Safety Fun Day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Community Hospital to raise awareness about SIDS and infant mortality and morbidity. Their current programs and areas of focus include Crozer-Keystone Healthy Start, Delaware County Cribs for Kids, Hispanic Resource Center and Nurse-Family Partnership. Their work is focused on women, children and families who are dealing with high risk factors for poor maternal/birth outcomes and infant mortality/morbidity. It is rarely business as usual, so the experienced staff are experts at thinking outside the box and being creative to ensure positive results for the women and children that require their services.