As society tries to tackle climate change around the globe, communities need to reduce its impact on human health. The purpose of this review is to identify key stakeholders involved in mitigating and adapting to climate change, as well as the type and characteristics of community empowerment actions implemented so far to address the problem. Published and unpublished studies from January 2005 to March 2022 in English and Portuguese were included in this review. The search, conducted on PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, SciELO, and RCAAP (Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal), followed a three-step search strategy. Data extraction was performed by two independent reviewers, using an extraction tool specifically designed for the review questions. Twenty-seven studies were eligible for inclusion: six used interviews as a qualitative method, three were systematic reviews, three were case study analyses, three used surveys and questionnaires as quantitative methods, two used integrative baseline reviews, and three utilized a process model design. Six studies targeted local, public and private stakeholders. Community settings were the context target of fifteen studies, whereas twelve specifically referred to urban settings. Seven types of community actions were acknowledged across the globe, characterised as hybrid interventions and referring to the leading stakeholders: local governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society, universities, public health, and private sectors.

Considering that the public health sector has been considered as a key stakeholder in climate action, it seems important to understand what interventions are carried out globally by trusted professionals such as nurses engaged in health promotion and environmental health in optimizing the health of individuals, families, and communities toward the dissemination of lifestyle decarbonization and guidance on healthier climate-related choices. The objective of this review was to understand the extent and type of evidence related to the community-based interventions of nurses that are being led or have been implemented thus far with the aim of reducing the health risks from climate change impact in urban areas. The present protocol follows the JBI methodological framework. Databases to be searched include PubMed, MEDLINE complete, CINAHL, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online), and BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine). Hand searched references were also considered for inclusion. This review will include quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies from 2008 onwards. Systematic reviews, text, opinion papers, and the gray literature in English and Portuguese were also considered. Mapping the nurse led interventions or those that have been implemented thus far in urban areas may lead to further reviews that may help identify the best practices and gaps within the field. The results are presented in tabular format alongside a narrative summary.

In recent studies, public health has been considered a key stakeholder in climate mitigation and adaptation in cities since they are more exposed to the impact of climate change. Nurses represent a vast majority of public health professionals, playing a key role in health promotion that allows them to influence individuals, families, and communities in adopting healthier behaviours and decarbonized lifestyles. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to map the existing evidence on nursing interventions, which are being led or implemented to reduce the health risks related to climate change in urban areas. The present review follows the JBI methodological framework, including a search on PubMed, MEDLINE complete, CINAHL Complete, Scopus, Web of Science, SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online), BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine), and RCAAP. Hand searched references were also considered, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies between January 2014 and October 2024, for a more contemporary perspective. A three-step search strategy and data extraction tool were used by two independent reviewers. Twenty-seven studies in English and Portuguese were eligible for inclusion, all targeting a population of professionals with nursing-related roles: two case studies, one Delphi panel, one descriptive study, one historical research paper, two using a methodological design format, four narrative reviews, one observational study, nine review articles, three scoping reviews, and three systematic reviews. Eight categories of nursing interventions that contribute to decarbonized lifestyles, reducing health risks in relation to climate change, were acknowledged. Nurses play a key role in empowering individuals, families, and communities, promoting climate awareness and literacy, supporting health policy change, advocating for the most vulnerable and engaging in environmental activism, using evidence-based research, and taking advantage of marketing strategies and social media.

The Community Intervention and Empowerment Assessment Model (MAIEC) offers a framework for community empowerment in several fields such as Climate Change (CC), the largest health emergency crisis globally, through diagnosis and interventions in Community Health Nursing. This study aims to assess the level of community empowerment in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and to identify nursing diagnosis through the MAIEC clinical decision matrix, within a local intermunicipal association in the northern region of the Portuguese Atlantic Coast. A convergent mixed-methods design was used, applying a focus group technique to a purposive sampling of ten key stakeholders of this community. A Portuguese version of the Empowerment Assessment Rating Scale and a questionnaire were both applied to the same participants, and qualitative and quantitative data generated were analysed using a content analysis technique and an Excel database sheet created using Microsoft Office 365. The analysis of the Portuguese northern community exposed: a low level of community empowerment for mitigation and adaptation to climate change; a nursing diagnosis of community management impairments in several dimensions, such as community process, community participation and community leadership. However, the study confirmed that MAIEC contributed to future community-based solutions, responding to the challenges of climate change, and enabling the planning of interventions to address MAIEC diagnoses in the form of CC-specific training and recommendations for new cooperation approaches from all stakeholders. This study was not registered.