Climate Awareness Among Healthcare Students: an Educational Study on Carbon Footprint and Climate Change Awareness

May 16, 2026 updated by: Hatice YAĞCI KARAMANLI, Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University
This research was planned to investigate whether the education provided in universities causes a change in carbon footprints and climate change.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Climate change is considered one of the most fundamental threats to global public health in the 21st century, making it imperative that university students, who will be the healthcare professionals of the future, have a comprehensive awareness of this issue. Since the university period is a critical stage where individuals build their professional identities and assume social responsibility, equipping the younger generation with climate literacy is vital for a sustainable future. The younger generation, in addition to being the group most exposed to the long-term effects of the climate crisis, also has the potential to be agents of change in solution processes. Healthcare students hold a strategic position in this process; the healthcare sector is responsible for approximately 4-5% of global carbon emissions, and students in this field being able to manage their own carbon footprint forms a foundation for implementing "green hospital" practices in the future . Furthermore, understanding the relationship between climate change and health risks such as increased respiratory illnesses, vector-borne diseases, and food insecurity will enable these students, who will be among the most trusted professional groups in society, to play a transformative role in both clinical practice and public health advocacy. Therefore, carbon footprint and climate awareness training for healthcare students is not only about creating environmental awareness but also an academic and ethical step towards making healthcare systems more resilient to the climate crisis.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

130

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Being over 18 years old, being a volunteer, being a healthcare student

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not being a volunteer

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Deney
A climate awareness training will be given to volunteer health students studying at Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University's Ermenek Uysal and Hasan Kalan Health Services building. Data collection tools will be administered to the students before and two weeks after this training. The data will be compared to determine if there has been a change in the students' carbon footprint and climate change awareness.
Other: climate change education
A climate awareness training will be given to volunteer health students studying at Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University's Ermenek Uysal and Hasan Kalan Health Services building. Data collection tools will be administered to the students before and two weeks after this training. The data will be compared to determine if there has been a change in the students' carbon footprint and climate change awareness.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Carbon Footprint Awareness Scale
Time Frame: At the start of the training and 2 weeks after the training.
The scale, developed by Üstgörül, Akkaya, Palazzo, and Micozzi (2024) to measure individuals' awareness of their impact on the environment through greenhouse gas emissions, has 19 items in its final version. The scale is structured using a 5-point Likert scale, rated from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). It consists of 5 sub-dimensions: Transportation (3 items), Fuel Consumption (3 items), Electricity Consumption (5 items), Food Consumption (5 items), and Waste Management (3 items). When the psychometric properties of the scale were examined, it was determined that it explained 56.09% of the total variance and the internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach's Alpha) was 0.88 for the total scale. The reliability coefficients of the sub-dimensions ranged from 0.72 to 0.83. Validated in the Turkish context (Asian and European cultural synthesis) and on individuals over 18 years of age (especially Generation Z), this tool allows for the systematic examination of psychological a
At the start of the training and 2 weeks after the training.
Global Climate Change Awareness Scale
Time Frame: At the start of the training and 2 weeks after the training
The "University Students' Awareness Scale Regarding Global Climate Change", developed by Deniz, İnel, and Sezer (2021) to determine the awareness levels of university students regarding global climate change, is structured on a 5-point Likert scale (1) ranging from "Not aware at all" to (5) "Completely aware". The scale consists of 21 items and four sub-dimensions. When the psychometric properties of the scale were examined, it was determined that it explained 57.72% of the total variance and the Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficient for the scale as a whole was 0.826. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed that the four-dimensional structure of the scale exhibited excellent and acceptable levels of fit with the data. This instrument is a valid and reliable measurement tool for measuring the awareness of university students regarding climate change in its different dimensions .
At the start of the training and 2 weeks after the training

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

  • Üstgörül, S., Akkaya, B., Palazzo, M., & Micozzi, A. (2024). Development and validation of carbon footprint awareness scale for boosting sustainable circular economy. Sustainability, 16(18), 8199. https://doi.org/10.3390/su1618819 Deniz, M., İnel, Y., & Sezer, A. (2021). Awareness scale of university students about global climate change. International Journal of Geography and Geography Education (IGGE), (43), 252-264 Guzman, V., Baez, S., & Marquet, P. A. (2021). Climate change education for health professionals: A systematic review. Medical Teacher, 43(6), 668-676. Watts, N., Amann, M., Arnell, N., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Beagley, J., Belesova, K., ... & Montgomery, H. (2020). The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: Responding to converging crises. The Lancet, 397(10269), 129-170. World Health Organization [WHO]. (2021). Health and climate change survey report: Tracking global progress. World Health Organization. Xie, E., De Barros, E. F., Abelsohn, A., Stein, A. T., & Philippe, J. K. (2019). Medical education for a changing climate: Curriculum for a new era. Academic Medicine, 94(12), 1839-1840.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

May 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 12, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 6, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 6, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 16, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Haticeygc İklim bilinci

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Data sharing is not possible.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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