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Low-Carbon, High-Quality Care Collaborative

Teams working together to improve health care quality while decreasing the environmental costs of how care is delivered.

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The Low-Carbon, High-Quality Care Collaborative is a provincial quality improvement initiative with a goal to spread and scale up efforts and share knowledge of low-carbon practices that improve the quality of care.

By supporting and leading low-carbon, high-quality clinical care, health care professionals have an opportunity to feel connected by being a part of meaningful work that contributes to the health of patients and to the health of our planet.

While our call for applications is now closed, please contact us at lowcarbon@healthqualitybc.ca if you have questions or interest in participating in upcoming opportunities.

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Did you know?

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Health systems contribute upwards of 5% of greenhouse gas emissions, almost on par with the aviation industry’s environmental impact.*

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1 aerosol inhaler, depending on the type, can have the same carbon footprint as driving up to 170km in a gas car.*

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An operating surgical suite has an estimated impact of over 3,200,000kg CO2e. Equivalent to powering over 718 Canadian homes annually.*

What is the Low-Carbon, High-Quality Care Collaborative?

The Low-Carbon, High-Quality Care collaborative is a one-year collaborative aimed at accelerating efforts to reduce health care’s environmental footprint through clinical practice changes that look to improve the dimensions of quality.

Teams will move all of us working in the health system one step closer to improving health care quality while decreasing the environmental costs of how we deliver care. Teams will have access to clinical and quality improvement expertise, peer-to-peer learning and mentorship, and curated resources.

Learn More About the Two Streams

Two Impactful Streams

We’ve structured the collaborative into two streams so we can work together while affecting the most change in two areas where leading practices are already driving changes for individual health care professionals, programs, and services at the strategic and organizational levels. 

Climate Conscious Inhaler Practices

GOAL: To implement low-carbon inhaler practices related to the management of asthma and COPD.

The Climate Conscious Inhaler Practices stream is best suited to:

  • Primary Care Teams
  • Acute Care Teams
  • Nurses, Pharmacists & Allied Health
View Change &
Measurement Strategy –
Inhaler Stream

Sustainable Perioperative Practices

GOAL: Apply sustainable approaches to improve patient experiences and perioperative efficiencies.

The Sustainable Perioperative Practices stream is best suited to:

  • Anesthestic Care Teams
  • Nurses
  • Surgeons
View Change &
Measurement Strategy – Perioperative Stream

What Does Participation Look Like For Teams

The collaborative is designed for teams of health care professionals working with asthma and COPD patients, and teams of health care professionals working in the perioperative setting. 

Teams can include any combination of people who practice in their respective clinical settings and should have the authority to make decisions in their clinical setting or have the support of decision-makers.

All teams will benefit from having a project lead, and access to quality improvement leads and/or those with experience with data collection and measurement.

What is the time commitment?

  • Pre-work with your team: November and December 2023
  • Four half-day virtual learning sessions in 2024 (January 24, February 28, May 8 and October 9)
  • Six one-hour coaching calls between January 2024 – November 2024
  • Monthly meeting with your project team and progress report submission

Webinars will be recorded and made available to view for team members who are not able to attend. Coaching will be scheduled to work with the local team to allow as many team members to attend as possible. The learning and testing of change ideas can happen on a flexible schedule that works for your team.

Learn More

Join us at One of Our Information Sessions

Making small changes in clinical care can have a big impact on mitigating our environmental impact, creating sustainability, and ensuring high-quality care for the province of BC.

The are no Low-Carbon, High-Quality Care Collaborative information sessions currently scheduled.

View slides from our previous information sessions.

Download Our Information Session Slides

Making small changes in clinical care can have a big impact on mitigating our environmental impact, creating sustainability, and ensuring high-quality care for the province of BC.

Still have questions?

Low-Carbon, High-Quality Care Collaborative
Questions and Answers

Whether you are looking to start your low-carbon, high-quality care journey from the beginning or expand your current clinical practices through a low-carbon lens, this collaborative will help teams accelerate their efforts.

The deadline for teams to apply to the collaborative was December 4th. If you’re interested in information about the progress of the current collaborative or future collaboratives please email us at lowcarbon@healthqualitybc.ca.

The Low-Carbon, High-Quality Care Collaborative is all about making changes to clinical care that have a big impact on improving quality and reducing BC’s health care carbon footprint while were at it! The goal of the collaborative is to spread and scale up efforts across the province and share knowledge of low-carbon practices, that improve the quality of care.

The model is based on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Breakthrough Series Collaborative model for health care improvement. It’s designed to support the spread and implementation of new or better clinical practices. The collaborative will include a combination of virtual sessions and peer learning, coaching and mentorship, and local improvement actions with clinical teams from across the province engaged in the application of change ideas related to clinical practice, education, and respectful care. Participating teams form a network and work on similar challenges while maintaining flexibility to approach issues specific to their practice area.

There is incredible work already happening across the province that is unique and adapted to local contexts and practice areas. The collaborative model is an effective and efficient way to leverage that work by offering a platform for teams to connect and learn from each other as well as a faculty of experts to support them. By developing a toolkit of methodologies and measurement strategies, team efforts and accomplishments can help inform next steps, resource creation and practice changes to support low-carbon, high-quality care.

Examples of clinical practices that will drive an improvement in the management of asthma and COPD patients, with lower carbon emissions include focus in 4 action areas:

  • appropriate prescribing practices: e.g. confirming dx of asthma and COPD with spirometry
  • encouraging sustainable alternatives: e.g. patient education and awareness, prescriber education and awareness
  • reviewing inhaler technique with patients and families: e.g. use of digital resources, referral to asthma or COPD educator
  • encouraging proper disposal of inhalers: e.g. education and incentives to return inhalers to pharmacy

Examples of clinical practices that will drive an improvement in the efficiency of OR processes and patient experiences related to the use of regional blocks as a mode of anesthesia and reducing the use of desflurane include:

  • patient education regarding benefits of regional blocks
  • scheduling ‘block days’ where regional blocks are streamlined for efficiency
  • removing desflurane vaporizers from the anesthetic machine
  • Other environmentally conscious perioperative practices (TBD)

These lists represent just a few of the many ways teams will drive improvements in health care quality.

Teams can include any combination of people that practice in their respective clinical setting and should have the authority to make decisions in their clinical setting or have the support of decision makers. All teams will benefit from having a project lead, and access to quality improvement leads and/or those with experience with data collection and measurement.

Climate Conscious Inhaler Practices Team Composition Examples

Out-Patient Setting

  • Primary care prescriber, nurse, pharmacist, medical office assistant
  • Prescriber, asthma/COPD educator, pharmacist, patient partner
  • Respiratory therapists, nurses
  • Primary care network team (prescriber, RN, pharmacists, clinic manager)

In-Patient

  • Physician, respiratory therapists, nurses
  • Hospital pharmacy team
  • Unit specific team (e.g.: unit educator, direct care nurses, respiratory therapists)
Sustainable Perioperative Practices Team Composition Example
  • Anaesthesia, nursing, anesthesia assistants, surgeons (in applicable procedures)

We are encouraging teams of health care professionals to work together – the team compositions above are just examples! We support unique teams and value the different perspectives everyone brings.

The collaborative model is designed for groups of health care professionals working together. At this time we are not accepting individual applications. We encourage you to reach out to your network to see if others might be interested in teaming up.

There is no charge to participate in the collaborative. And while there is no funding available, we’ll help you design your quality improvement initiative to achieve results, support you with your measurement strategy and connect you with other climate conscious health care professionals wanting to support high-quality clinical care at a lower environmental cost.

Have more questions? Email us at lowcarbon@healthqualitybc.ca.

Become a Low-Carbon Champion

Each and every one of us has experienced the impact of climate change here in BC. From extreme weather events, devasting wildfire and damaging floods, these climate related impacts not only disrupt how we access health services but also contribute to increase health risks like heat-related illnesses, respiratory conditions and stress, anxiety and trauma.*

Health care professionals have an opportunity to play a key role in improving health care quality while decreasing the environmental costs of how we deliver care. This is meaningful work that can contribute to both the health of patients and the health of our planet.

Making small changes in clinical care can have a big impact on mitigating our environmental impact, creating sustainability, and ensuring high-quality care for the province of BC.

Sign up to be a Low-Carbon champion to receive resources, links to webinars and learning opportunities that focus on improving quality through a low-carbon lens.

Become a Low-Carbon Champion Today