MFA training programme nominated for German Sustainability Award for Health

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Climate change is also having an impact on human health: Periods of heat and extreme weather bring with them new and changing clinical pictures and present new challenges for staff in clinics, outpatient clinics and surgeries. In order to prepare medical assistants (MFA) for this, in August 2023 Hannover Medical School (MHH) was one of the first and so far the only university institution in Germany to offer trained MFAs from GP practices and hospital outpatient clinics free further training to become health pilots for "climate change and health" at university level.

This innovative project has now been nominated for the German Sustainability Award for Health. "This nomination is confirmation for us that we are setting new standards with this innovative training course for medical assistants on the way to sustainable and climate-conscious training and patient care in the healthcare sector," says Dr Konstanze Ballüer, Head of Clinic Management at MHH. A total of 13 MFAs were trained as health pilots for climate-conscious and sustainable care in the healthcare sector during this first training programme.

MFA as important multipliers

MFAs are a very large professional group in the healthcare sector. Their medically based recommendations are heard by patients. MFAs are multipliers with a variety of tasks. They have close contact with patients when performing their medical services, take on administrative and documentation tasks and are familiar with practice organisation.

The training course based on the German Medical Association's model curriculum for MFAs "Climate change and health" is intended to fulfil this interface function, as Dr Ballüer explains. On the one hand, it aims to improve patient care and, on the other, to improve sustainability and resource-conserving work in outpatient clinics and practices. The five modules cover topics such as the causes of climate change, the effects on health, health literacy and preventative measures as well as areas of action in healthcare facilities.

Raising awareness of climate change-related health risks

As health pilots for climate-resilient care, graduates of the training course help to sensitise vulnerable groups in particular, such as older patients, to the direct and indirect effects of climate change on health and to strengthen individual health literacy.

Specific figures on the impact of the health guides are not yet available. However, according to Dr Ballüer, it can be assumed that any form of raising awareness of climate change-related health risks, such as dehydration during heatwaves, as well as avoiding them on one's own responsibility, helps to reduce the number of outpatient and inpatient visits to the doctor due to heatstroke, dehydration or worsening of organ diseases and other indirect effects, thereby improving health.

Carers could also become health guides

In the training programme - under the leadership of the MFA training centre - lecturers from the MHH are working together with a GP practice and an MHH expert in geriatrics with the support of the state capital of Hanover on the vision of permanently enriching the MFA healthcare profession with climate-sensitive and billable counselling skills and establishing health guides as an innovative building block for strengthening health. Dr Ballüer considers the transfer of an adapted training programme for nursing staff in outpatient or inpatient care facilities to be conceivable and desirable.

In order to make a more effective contribution in the transformation fields of value creation, environment and climate and to strengthen health in the long term, the creation of a refinancing option for the work of MFAs qualified as health pilots is an important milestone. The medium-term goal of the MHH is to achieve a similar approach to the state of Baden-Württemberg for Lower Saxony in order to receive financial compensation for the trained MFAs.