KONEKSI-supported research is empowering Indonesia’s community-level healthcare providers to become more responsive to the impacts of climate change, through access to an interactive dashboard. 

The CORE-STEP program aims to strengthen the ability of  community health centres (Pusat Kesehatan or PUSKESMAS) to deliver climate-just and gender inclusive services in response to emerging health system pressures in a changing climate. 

CORE-STEP, a partnership between Universitas Syiah Kuala in Banda Aceh and Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, has utilised a mixed methods approach to gather empirical evidence across three locations (Banda Aceh, Ambon and Mataram) to develop an online data dashboard, alongside literature reviews and case studies. 

Exchange visits and knowledge sharing will also take place with targeted community healthcare centres in Queensland, Australia (at Brisbane, and the Gold Coast). 

The project aims to improve access and quality of inclusive and climate-ready primary health services, while enabling primary health professionals to address climate change issues in their practice, with increased awareness of climate-related health impacts and risks. For example, increasing temperatures can lead to heat-related illness, while air pollution can affect those with respiratory conditions. Communities with already stretched access to health services could face even greater pressures due to climate hazards and disasters. 

CORE-STEP also aims to increase the involvement of communities in planning and making choices about primary healthcare in the context of climate change, particularly those in marginalised groups, such as people with a disability. 

“Currently, we are developing an ‘adaptive’ PUSKESMAS model. To be categorised as a climate-resilient PUSKESMAS, there are certain characteristics it must have,” dr Wahyu Sulistya Affarah said during an interview in July. 

Technology and health information systems can play a major role in climate adaptation, by enhancing the accessibility, efficiency, and responsiveness of primary healthcare services to climate-related concerns while addressing knowledge gaps. 

CORE-STEP’s interactive dashboard includes a healthcare distribution map, hazard vulnerability calculations, and public perception survey, all designed to empower healthcare decision makers, and practitioners. 

Visit https://www.core-step.info/ to access the dashboard, or the CORE-STEP website for more information on the research: https://www.core-step.corescience.id/