State, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) health departments are increasingly concerned about climate change and health, but many do not know where or how to begin to address the impacts in their local communities.

While there is some general guidance available, there are very few trainings that provide clear actionable steps STLT organizations can take to integrate climate into their work. To fill this gap, CDC Foundation enlisted NORC to develop an actionable and flexible training tailored to STLT partners that includes an introduction to climate change and its health impacts, approaches for integrating climate into health department activities, tools and examples to help health departments build climate resilience, and resources to learn more.  However, making training available does not necessarily mean that busy health department staff will know it exists, have time to take it, or carve out space to implement the recommended actions. 

Once Climate and Health: A Training for Health Department Staff  was launched on CDC TRAIN, NORC began offering tailored technical assistance to select STLT agencies to implement the guidance.

NORC staff traveled with CDC Foundation to state and local health departments to provide subject matter expertise on how to implement and personalize the online climate and health training. TA was delivered during in-person meetings and through a series of monthly virtual check-ins after the initial session. TA included subject matter expertise on gathering and analyzing local climate and health data, brainstorming program ideas, assisting with developing a local project plan, advising STLT staff members on best practices in climate and health work, identifying potential partnerships to tackle climate change impacts, and exploring approaches to communicating about climate and health within the local context.