# Taking a Climate and Health History: A One Health-Informed Approach to Primary Care and Services

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a One Health approach to integrate climate and health history into primary care, especially in vulnerable communities.

## Contribution

The paper provides practical guidance for clinicians to incorporate climate-related health risks into routine clinical practice.

## Key findings

- A One Health approach can enhance early detection of climate-related illnesses.
- Incorporating climate and environmental inquiries improves patient education and diagnosis.
- Community Health Workers play a key role in implementing climate-informed care.

## Abstract

Climate change poses the greatest public health threat, disproportionately impacting communities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) where fragile health systems increase vulnerability. Despite this, clinical practice often overlooks climate-related health risks. Current approaches focus on single disciplines or settings, limiting broader integration. Incorporating a One Health approach—recognizing the interconnection of human, animal, environmental, and plant health—into routine clinical encounters offers a pathway to strengthen climate-health awareness. This manuscript presents practical guidance for integrating climate and health histories, with a focus on heat exposure, and emphasizes the role of physicians, other health providers and three categories of Community Health Workers (CHWs) across the care continuum. A case study illustrates how targeted climate and environmental inquiries during history-taking can advance diagnosis and patient education. Embedding One Health in clinical care bridges existing gaps, enhances early detection of climate-related illness, and promotes culturally sensitive, holistic health interventions in vulnerable communities.