Below are some helpful resources related to the content in this chapter:
The World Health Organization’s online toolkit for health professionals helps providers understand climate change impacts on health (including mental health) and communicate effectively about climate solutions. It offers ready-to-use facts, guidance for advocacy, and case studies to empower health and social care workers as climate leaders in their communities.
Eco-Anxious Stories is a community-driven platform (Canada) dedicated to exploring climate emotions and resilience. It features personal stories, creative arts, and workshops that validate eco-anxiety and eco-grief while highlighting coping tools and collective action. Health providers can use these stories and resources to help clients – especially youth – feel less alone and more hopeful.
weADAPT Climate Anxiety Toolbox provides a curated digital toolbox compiling free global resources to address climate-related anxiety and distress. The toolbox provides links to articles (e.g. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques for eco-anxiety), the Resilience Project resource library for young people, interactive courses like Active Hope for climate burnout, and information on climate cafés and forums. It’s a one-stop starting point for practitioners seeking practical strategies and activities to bolster psychological resilience in the face of climate change.
Chapter 8. Conclusion
As health and social care providers in Canada, we stand at the intersection of climate change and human well-being. Healthcare providers have long been guided by an ethic of duty of care – a responsibility to protect and promote the health of individuals and communities. Today, that duty extends unmistakably to the climate crisis.
The World Health Organization has underscored that health workers’ unique position of trust enables us to raise awareness, advocate for policy changes, and empower communities to adapt to climate change (1). In other words, caring for patients now means caring about climate change. We see this in our daily practice: a patient with asthma suffers from wildfire smoke; an elderly client’s anxiety spikes during an extreme heatwave. These are not isolated events but part of a broader pattern of climate-related health stresses that we can no longer ignore.
Crucially, acknowledging climate change as a health emergency does not mean abandoning hope – quite the opposite. It means using our trusted voice to communicate the urgency in a way that motivates positive action without causing despair. Research highlighted in The Lancet notes that exposure to climate-driven disasters can spur people to engage in protective, pro-environmental behaviors if their anxiety is channeled into action rather than helplessness (2). We have a role in making this happen. For example, clinicians can gently help patients connect the dots between an event (like wildfire smoke) and climate change, while emphasizing solutions and coping strategies (2). By doing so, we fulfill an ethical obligation to educate and protect, much as physicians have done in past public health crises (3).
Reaffirming our duty of care means looking beyond the clinic walls. It calls on us to be advocates and leaders. National medical and nursing organizations increasingly recognize climate advocacy as a core responsibility of the profession (3). This can feel daunting, but advocacy can take many forms. Some providers engage by greening their healthcare facilities and reducing clinic emissions, setting an example of sustainable practice. Others lend their voice to policy debates on climate and health, highlighting evidence that climate action – like phasing out coal or expanding green spaces – yields immediate health benefits, including mental health gains from cleaner air and improved community well-being. By embracing these roles, we honor our professional values and help steer our societies toward climate solutions grounded in health, equity, and care.
Collective Healing and Community Resilience
A key theme running through this guide is that no one faces the climate crisis alone. Just as climate change is a collective challenge, so too is the process of healing and adaptation. Across Canada and internationally, communities are finding strength in solidarity, drawing on shared values and knowledge to build resilience. Health and social care providers are often at the heart of these efforts – convening support groups, partnering with community organizers, and integrating cultural wisdom into mental health care.
One powerful lesson has come from Indigenous communities, who have stewarded the land for generations and possess deep insights into living well in balance with nature. Indigenous knowledge keepers remind us that healing is holistic, inseparable from land, culture, and identity (4). For example, land-based healing programs have emerged as cornerstone initiatives in some First Nations – bringing youth and Elders together on the land to strengthen cultural connections while processing eco-anxiety and ecological grief (4). These programs blend traditional practices with modern mental health supports, creating space for intergenerational learning and community resilience. They have proven especially effective for young people, offering mentorship and hope in the face of environmental change (4). Such approaches illustrate how collective healing can occur when we braid knowledge systems – uniting Indigenous wisdom with psychosocial support to adapt to new climate realities (4).
Equity and justice remain central in these conversations. Climate change amplifies existing social inequalities, disproportionately impacting Indigenous peoples, rural and northern communities, and those marginalized in our society.
We have seen stark examples: the Siksika First Nation in Alberta endured a devastating flood in 2013 that displaced members for years; loss of land and traditional resources led to cultural and mental health harms, with some describing the experience as feeling “imprisoned” and even evoking intergenerational trauma (5) (5). Such stories underscore that healing must also address historical injustices. They inspire us to advocate for climate justice – ensuring that adaptation efforts prioritize those most affected and that Indigenous leadership guides the path forward. Indeed, Canada’s first Indigenous-led climate report emphasizes the unique strengths of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis in responding to climate challenges and calls for Indigenous self-determination in climate action (6). By championing these principles in our work, we help enable communities to not only recover from climate impacts but to emerge stronger and more self-determined.
Collective resilience is also fostered in day-to-day acts of community care. Throughout this guide, we’ve encountered examples of neighbors supporting each other during disasters, youth groups forming to demand climate action, and professionals collaborating across disciplines to address climate-related stress. These collective efforts can be profoundly healing. Sharing our climate anxieties in a supportive group, for instance, can alleviate the burden on any one individual. Initiatives like community “climate cafés” – informal meetups for people to talk about climate fears and feelings – have gained traction as safe spaces that bolster mental health through connection (7). Similarly, structured group programs like the Active Hope workshops (inspired by environmental activist Joanna Macy’s work) guide participants to work through despair and find empowerment in action (7). Connection is medicine: whether it’s patients in a therapy group discovering they are not alone in their climate worries, or an entire town coming together to rebuild after a wildfire, these social bonds build the psychological resilience we all need in a changing world.
In Focus: Storytelling Hope – Youth in Victoria Confront Eco-Anxiety
In 2024, a community initiative in Victoria, BC called Eco-Anxious Stories and Next Steps illustrated how collective approaches can transform climate anxiety into empowerment. Funded by a local health authority to improve youth mental well-being (8), the project invited teenagers and young adults to share their eco-anxieties through storytelling. Participants first gathered to voice their fears about climate change – “a chronic fear of environmental doom,” as the American Psychiatric Association defines eco-anxiety (8). But the facilitators, including public health and youth workers, didn’t stop at venting worries. They brought in guest speakers working on climate solutions in the community and taught the group creative ways to reframe their climate narratives. “We didn’t want to focus on the negatives,” explained the project’s coordinator, Julia Harrison. “We said: okay, we’ve recognized our fears. Now how can we harness positive emotions and tell a new story?” (8) Through workshops, the youth learned to craft personal Eco-Anxious Stories – honest about their concerns but also highlighting sources of strength, whether it was a cultural tradition, a local restoration project, or solidarity with friends. The act of storytelling in a peer group helped foster a sense of connection and hope (8). One participant shared that hearing others’ stories made her feel “less alone and more motivated to take action.” By the project’s end, the youth had not only developed better coping skills for their climate anxiety, but many had also become community leaders – launching a climate club at school, volunteering for tree-planting events, and even speaking at a city council meeting on behalf of their generation. This real-world example shows the potential of collective healing: with the right support, climate angst can evolve into climate action. The Victoria project centered youth voices and creativity, and in doing so, nurtured resilience that will ripple outward – inspiring families, neighborhoods, and perhaps even policy. It’s a small but powerful model of how health-oriented grants and community partnerships can spark hope in the face of the climate crisis.
Professional Leadership for Sustainable Futures
As we look ahead, the guiding message for all of us in the caring professions is one of committed action. Knowledge alone is not enough; it is what we choose to do with it that matters. Fortunately, the path forward does not start from scratch – it builds on the momentum and themes we’ve highlighted. We have seen that acting on climate can itself be healing, both individually and collectively. Now is the time to lead by example, using our expertise, compassion, and influence to shape a sustainable and mentally healthy future for all.
What might this leadership look like in practice? On an individual level, it means integrating climate considerations into our clinical and organizational decisions. A social worker might develop a safety plan with a client that addresses extreme weather preparedness as part of mental health relapse prevention. A family physician might start asking about climate-related stressors during check-ups, normalizing conversations about eco-anxiety and grief. Simply showing patients that we “get it” – that we understand their climate worries – can be a relief and a source of therapeutic alliance. We can also guide patients toward constructive outlets: for example, connecting a young person overwhelmed by climate news with a local youth climate group, or prescribing time in nature to a burnt-out caregiver, which can improve mental health while also cultivating appreciation for the environment.
Within our workplaces, professional leadership means pushing for climate-informed policies and practices. This could involve advocating that our hospital develop a heatwave response plan that includes mental health outreach to isolated seniors, or ensuring telehealth services remain available when air quality from wildfire smoke makes travel unsafe. It also means mitigating our own environmental footprint. Healthcare itself contributes to greenhouse gas emissions; by championing greener practices (like reducing waste, conserving energy, or sourcing local sustainable food in healthcare facilities), we not only help the planet but also send a message to patients and communities that their health institutions are part of the solution. These efforts have co-benefits – a hospital garden or nearby green space can sequester carbon and provide a calming refuge for staff, patients, and families.
At the broader societal level, professional leadership calls on us to use our voices in the public arena. Health providers are consistently ranked among the most trusted messengers in society (1). When we speak about climate change as a health issue, people listen. By framing climate action as a means to protect community well-being, we can cut through political divides and inspire collaborative action. Many Canadian providers have already stepped into this role, from nurses highlighting links between extreme heat and mental health in vulnerable populations (9), to physicians testifying about the health risks of climate in parliamentary committees. Even if you’ve never seen yourself as an “activist,” remember that at its heart, advocacy is an extension of caregiving – it’s caring aloud. It’s what we do when we identify a threat to our patients that cannot be solved with a prescription alone. Climate change is exactly such a threat, and our ethical codes, as well as our compassion, compel us to address it. As one commentary put it, those of us with the resources and power to act have a responsibility to channel our concern into positive action (2).
Finally, let us not lose sight of hope and possibility. The climate crisis is often characterized by grave warnings, but within the healthcare community there is a growing movement of hope – an understanding that every action we take to confront this challenge can bring tangible improvements to people’s lives. When we help install air conditioners at a seniors’ center, we prevent heat stress and save lives. When we support an Indigenous food sovereignty project, we strengthen cultural continuity and mental wellness in that community. When we mentor a student or trainee on climate-health research, we are investing in the knowledge that will guide future solutions. Each of these acts, small or large, contributes to what some have called collective climate resilience. In the words of a group of Canadian nurses advocating for climate action, “We have an opportunity to redefine our role – not only as care providers, but as healers of the land and protectors of future generations.” By embracing this expanded role, we help ensure that our patients and communities can thrive in the years ahead, despite the disruptions a changing climate will bring.
As we conclude, the takeaway is clear: climate change is reshaping our professional landscape, but it also offers a chance to reinvigorate our purpose. We are called to care in new ways, to ground our practice in sustainability and justice, and to stand alongside the communities we serve in navigating uncharted waters. This is difficult work – and yet, it is profoundly meaningful. The duty of care has always been about meeting the pressing needs of our time. In rising to the climate challenge, we honor the heart of our professions. We also join a broader journey of healing: healing our patients, healing our communities, and, ultimately, healing our relationship with the planet we call home. Together, through committed action, empathy, and courage, we can help build a healthier, more resilient future – one where both people and nature can flourish.
Chapter Highlights
Health and social care providers hold an ethical duty to address climate change as a core aspect of care.
Collective healing and community resilience are essential in addressing climate-related distress; fostering social connections, integrating traditional knowledge, and supporting culturally grounded practices promote lasting resilience.
Equity, justice, and inclusivity must remain central in climate responses; health and social care providers can advocate to prioritize marginalized and disproportionately impacted communities.
Professional leadership means integrating climate-informed practices at all levels, from individual client interactions and organizational policies, to broader societal advocacy..
Hope and positive action are foundational to climate resilience; by reframing climate anxiety into empowered action, health and social care providers inspire clients, communities, and colleagues toward meaningful, collective change.
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