Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-7 (section)

==== 7.4.2.7 Adaptation Options for Risks to Mental Health ====

<div id="h3-49-siblings" class="h3-siblings"></div>

''Adaptation options for reducing mental health risks associated with extreme weather include preventive and post-event responses'' ( ''high confidence'' ) ''( [[#Brown--2017|Brown et al., 2017]] ; Cohen, 2019; [[#James--2020|James et al., 2020]] ; Table 7.8)'' . Responses include improving funding and access to mental healthcare, which is under-resourced (WHO, 2019a); surveillance and monitoring of psychosocial impacts of extreme weather events; community-level planning for mental health as part of climate-resilience planning ( [[#Clayton--2017|Clayton et al., 2017]] ); and mental health and psychological first aid training for care providers and first responders ( [[#Hayes--2018|Hayes et al., 2018]] ; [[#O’Donnell--2021|O’Donnell et al., 2021]] ; [[#Hayes--2018|Hayes et al., 2018]] ; [[#Taylor--2020|Taylor, 2020]] ; [[#Morgan--2018|Morgan et al., 2018]] ; [[#Sijbrandij--2020|Sijbrandij et al., 2020]] ). Legislation can ensure access to services as well as establish a regulatory framework ( [[#Ayano--2018|Ayano, 2018]] ). Advanced disaster risk planning reduces post-event mental health challenges. One example is from China, where pre-planning of temporary shelters resulted in significantly lower rates of anxiety, depression and PTSD in the aftermath of flooding among displaced people who accessed them ( [[#Zhong--2020|Zhong et al., 2020]] ). Key elements of successful initiatives include coordinated planning and action between key regional agencies and governments with a focus on improving accountability and removing barriers to implementation and subsequent access to programmes ( [[#Ali--2020|Ali et al., 2020]] ). As an example, following the 2019/2020 Australian bushfires, the federal government allocated funds to support mental health through free counselling for those affected, increased access to telehealth, extended hours for mental health services and programmes designed specifically for youth ( [[#Newnham--2020|Newnham et al., 2020]] ).

'''Table 7.8 |''' Summary of adaptation options for key risks associated with mental health.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! '''Key Risk'''

! '''Geographic region'''

! '''Consequence that would be considered severe and to whom'''

! '''Hazard conditions that would contribute to this risk being severe'''

! '''Exposure conditions that would contribute to this risk being severe'''

! '''Vulnerability conditions that would contribute to this risk being severe'''

! '''Adaptation options with high potential for reducing risk'''

! '''Selected key references'''

|-
| Mental health impacts in response to floods, storms, and wildfires

| * Global; some areas at greater risk for storms, flooding, or wildfires

| * Substantial increase in mental illness compared to base rate

| * Increased frequency of major storms, weather-related flooding or wildfires

| * Low-lying areas, dry areas, urban areas

| * Physical infrastructure that is vulnerable to extreme weather, inadequate emergency response and mental health services, social inequality

| * Improved urban infrastructure, warning systems, and post-disaster social support
* Improved funding and access to mental healthcare
* Improved surveillance and monitoring of mental health impacts of extreme weather events
* Climate change resilience planning in the mental health system (including at a community level
* Mental health first aid training for care providers and first responders

| [[#Ali--2020|Ali et al. (2020)]] ; [[#Ayano--2018|Ayano (2018)]] ; [[#Buckley--2019|Buckley et al. (2019)]] ; [[#Clayton--2017|Clayton et al. (2017)]] ; Hayes et al. (2019); [[#James--2020|James et al. (2020)]] ; [[#Sijbrandij--2020|Sijbrandij et al. (2020)]]

|}

''Because mental health is fundamentally inter-twined with social and economic well-being, adaptation for climate-related mental health risks benefits from wider multi-sectoral initiatives to enhance well-being, with the potential for co-benefits to emerge'' ( ''high confidence'' ) ''.'' Improvements in education, quality of housing, safety and social protection support enhance general well-being and make individuals more resilient to climate risks ( [[#Lund--2018|Lund et al., 2018]] ; Hayes et al., 2019). Among Indigenous Peoples, connections to traditional culture and to place are associated with health and well-being ( [[#Bourke--2018|Bourke et al., 2018]] ) as well as with resilience to environmental change ( [[#Ford--2020|Ford et al., 2020]] ). As an example of the connection between infrastructure improvements and mental health, a study of domestic rainwater harvesting initiatives to promote household water security also improved mental health in participating households ( [[#Mercer--2017|Mercer and Hanrahan, 2017]] ). Adaptive urban design that provides access to healthy natural spaces—an option for reducing risks associated with heat stress—also promotes social cohesion and mitigates mental health challenges ''(high confidence)'' ( [[#Buckley--2019|Buckley et al., 2019]] ; [[#Clayton--2017|Clayton et al., 2017]] ; [[#Jennings--2019|Jennings and Bamkole, 2019]] ; [[#Liu--2020b|Liu et al., 2020b]] ; [[#Mygind--2019|Mygind et al., 2019]] ; [[#Marselle--2020|Marselle et al., 2020]] ).

<div id="7.4.2.8" class="h3-container"></div>

<span id="adaptation-options-to-facilitate-early-warning-and-response-systems"></span>