Perceptions and Experiences of Healthcare Professionals Regarding Green Practices to Promote Environmental Sustainability in Health Services: A Protocol for a Systematic Review of Qualitative Evidence

Background The healthcare sector significantly contributes to environmental degradation and climate change. Implementing sustainable practices, known as “green practices,” can mitigate these negative impacts. Healthcare professionals play a crucial role in adopting and promoting green practices, but their perceptions and experiences are not well understood.

This systematic review protocol outlines methods for synthesizing qualitative evidence on healthcare professionals’ perceptions and experiences regarding green practices in health services. The review aims to identify facilitators, barriers, and strategies for implementing green practices from healthcare professionals’ perspectives.

We will search PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and Scopus from each database’s inception to July 2025. We will include qualitative studies exploring healthcare professionals’ perceptions and experiences regarding green practices in health services. Two reviewers will independently screen studies using Covidence, extract data, and assess methodological quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist. We will use thematic synthesis to analyze findings. Risk of bias will be assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research.

This review will provide insights into healthcare professionals’ perceptions and experiences regarding green practices. Findings will inform strategies for implementing sustainable practices in healthcare, considering key stakeholders’ perspectives. This may contribute to reducing healthcare’s environmental impact and improving planetary health. Limitations include English language restriction and potential non-generalizability of qualitative evidence. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data Availability All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author