Nationwide Mental Health Support Service for Climate-Emergency Workers

Climate change is having a significant impact on Australia and its surrounding region as warming temperatures continue to break historical records. Climate observations by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology have witnessed a rise in sea temperatures and levels, increasing ocean acidification, and markedly changing rainfall patterns. These changes have increased the scale, severity and frequency of extreme weather events and natural disasters across Australia. In southern Australia, a 15-20% reduction in annual rainfall in recent decades has caused devastating years-long droughts, and led to a sharp rise in extreme fire weather days. A dangerous phenomenon known as ‘fire-generated thunderstorms’ has caused devastating bushfires such as the Black Saturday fires (2009) and the Black Summer fires (2019-2020). 

In contrast, northern Australia has been experiencing above average rainfall and an increase in heavy rainfall events known as ‘supercells’. These conditions, which are heavily influenced by the recurring climate driver ‘La Niña,’ have recently caused some of the most destructive and widespread flooding in recorded history. 

Research demonstrates that natural disasters can have both immediate and long-term impacts on mental health and wellbeing, with a worsening of adverse effects associated with concurrent and/or consecutive disasters. An in-depth study on the mental health and wellbeing of Australian emergency service workers revealed that despite many workers possessing good levels of resilience and wellbeing, the levels of distress experienced overall is higher than in the general population. Likewise, healthcare workers are at a heightened risk of burnout, depression, anxiety, sleep, and trauma-related disorders, and disaster relief volunteers also have a heightened risk due to their lack of preparation and training for traumatic exposure. No matter the role, experiencing potentially traumatic events increases the risk of posttraumatic stress reactions. Under climate change conditions, the demands of these roles are expected to continuously increase.

Whilst most people exposed to a disaster do not experience post-traumatic mental health problems, the best way to support communities is to allow room for resilience trajectories to be traversed whilst monitoring for those who require early intervention. 

It is important for all people who experience disasters to be able to access placed-based, layered support that considers the direct and indirect impacts of disasters. The provision of the wrong type of psychological support at the wrong time can be harmful, and trauma-informed approaches that support resilience need to be designed and ready for engagement at the time of a disaster.  

Frontline and emergency support workers who engage directly with communities during disasters need to have training and support to recognise psychosocial needs in community members, and appropriately use psychosocial recovery skills. Thus, there is a need for experts in disaster psychology to provide support to the preparation, response, and recovery cycle. A stepped-care approach using a combination of internal and external services is recommended for trauma-exposed workforces. This includes primary prevention strategies (education and awareness) and secondary prevention (targeted screening and skills training for high-risk subgroups. Assisting frontline and emergency workers to maintain their wellbeing also increases their ability to help communities. 

Delivering an intervention that helps to increase climate-related emergency preparedness and management through a tailored model of care will help to bolster the capabilities of a climate-ready workforce. The goals of the Disaster Response Network are to: 

• Build resilience, support mental health, and increase the capacity of the frontline and emergency support workforce that assist communities during and after disasters; and 

• Recruit, develop, and coordinate a network of disaster psychology practitioners who provide evidence-informed approaches to support. 

Key learning: Using national climate research to inform approach

Australia’s key climate and disaster bodies (National Emergency Management Agency, Institute of Disaster Resilience, Natural Hazards Research Centre) contain rich data-driven insights about natural disasters across the country, which was used to ascertain locations across the country that are: 

• Recently disaster-affected; 

• Historically disaster-prone;  

• Forecast for likelihood of future adverse weather events; and 

• Have low levels of disaster resilience. 

This information was used to identify areas of priority and develop a strategy that prioritised organisations in those climate-emergency hotspots.  

Key learning: Developing an intervention aligned with national climate and mental health adaptation plans, frameworks, and strategies

The Australian National Climate Resilience and Adaptation Strategy (the Strategy) is pillared by four key domains. From these, the ‘Social Domain,’ which encompasses people, communities, culture, and institutions, focusses on the key areas of: 

• Health and Wellbeing; 

• Families and Community; 

• Social Welfare Services; and 

• Emergency Services. 

The Strategy is supported by the Australian National Disaster Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework that underscores the need to support the mental health and wellbeing of frontline, healthcare, and emergency workers who respond to disasters. As the peak body for psychologists, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) recognises the importance of supporting those who assist communities and vulnerable populations throughout Australia in times of crisis and great distress. Therefore, the DRN’s volunteer network of APS member psychologists was established to support frontline and emergency workers. 

Key learning: Partnering with member psychologists 

The ability to provide the mental health and wellbeing support to climate-emergency workers is thanks a national volunteer network of APS psychologists who make up the DRN. These members act out of goodwill, their desire to serve their communities, and an interest in applying their much-needed psychological skills to help in the aftermath of natural disasters. These psychologists have complete additional training developed by the APS to support to those who work or volunteer in highly stressful or demanding roles in response to disasters, emergencies, and other community events. The capacity building elements of the program focus on what is needed to increase the subject-matter skills and confidence of the workforce to perform psychological tasks that, due to the nature of disaster responses, might be outside the scope of normal practice.