Protecting mental health from extreme heat: recommendations for policy and action
Categories: Climate change & health Vulnerability & Adaptation Assessments, Health National Adaptation Plans, Guidance document, Country experience, Global, Climate resilient health systems, Climate-informed health surveillance and early warning systems, Climate-transformative leadership and governance, Climate-smart workforce, Integrated risks, monitoring, early warning, and GHG emissions tracking, Climate-informed health programmes, Ministries of Health, Health care professionals, Health care facility managers, Public health professionals, Local/city officials
Publisher: United for Global Mental Health
As one of the most direct consequences of climate change, extreme heat has serious implications for mental health, among its many health impacts. Evidence shows that exposure to high temperatures increases mortality among people living with mental health conditions, raises rates of psychiatric hospital admissions, and heightens suicide risk. Yet, mental health impacts remain rarely recognized and scarcely addressed in existing programmes and plans related to heat and climate change.
This report provides practical insights and recommendations for the integration of mental health in heat action plans, based on an assessment of 143 heat action plans published to date. Specifically, this resource:
- provides a snapshot of how mental health is covered within heat action plans
- uses concrete case studies to show how mental health has been successfully integrated into heat action
- offers practical recommendations developed by global experts for policymakers working on heat action plans on how to better consider mental health