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How To Support Your Employees’ Mental Health Amid Climate Challenges
Key takeaways from ‘Addressing the Mental Health Impacts of Our Changing Climate,’ the final of three summer seminars hosted by the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health.
On Aug. 21, 2024, the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health hosted the final seminar in our Climate and Workforce Health Summer Series. “Addressing the Mental Health Impacts of Our Changing Climate” featured business leaders and health experts who shared ways that companies can support their employees in navigating the mental health challenges posed by extreme weather and environmental changes.
The event also highlighted the release of two new tip sheets from the Health Action Alliance: one for employers, offering strategies to support employee mental health amid climate challenges, and another for employees, with practical advice on managing climate-related mental health concerns. You can download them here.
Read on for highlights from the event, and watch the full recording below.
Keynote Conversation Snapshot: Mental Health Impacts Of Our Changing Climate
Steven Levine, Co-Founder of the Health Action Alliance, hosted a discussion with Dr. Adam Seidner, Chief Medical Officer for The Hartford, on the significant mental health challenges posed by our changing climate. The conversation focused on how climate-related events such as extreme heat, wildfires, and severe storms impact mental health, the economic implications for businesses, and the proactive measures employers can take to support their teams in navigating these challenges.
Key Insights
Mental health impacts of climate change: Climate-related events, such as extreme heat, wildfires, and severe storms, are increasingly linked to mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression, suicide risk, and strained social relationships. More than two-thirds of U.S. adults report experiencing some level of anxiety related to climate change, and the global cost of mental health conditions caused by climate change is projected to reach nearly $47 billion by 2030. But only 17% of U.S. employers feel fully prepared to address climate-related health risks facing their workers.
The business case for mental health support at work: Mental health challenges can lead to presenteeism, reduced productivity, and higher absenteeism rates, including short- and long-term disability. Mental distress leads to an estimated $15,000 in lost productivity, healthcare costs, and turnover per affected employee each year. Employees are increasingly making career decisions based on the mental health support provided by their employers.
Signs of climate mental health distress: Supervisors should be aware of signs that an employee's mental health might be affecting their work, such as increased mistakes, lower quality of work, lack of attention to detail, and working unusually long hours.
Climate change is an equity issue: Climate events can exacerbate existing social inequities based on socioeconomic status, gender, age, and race, leading to even worse mental health outcomes for some of those communities.
Insight Spotlight
“Mental health is more than an issue just for the individual. It's an issue for families, public health, as well as the workplace. And so we need to end the silence around mental health. … It really just comes down to creating a culture where seeking help is encouraged. You know, we need to educate our managers on how to approach employees and refer them for any help that they may need.”
–Dr. Adam Seidner, Chief Medical Officer for The Hartford
Take-Away Tactics
Use sensitive language: Encourage open dialogue about climate-related anxieties and emotions in the workplace using language that validates these feelings, making it easier for employees to discuss their concerns. Acknowledge these emotions as a normal response to current environmental challenges, and avoid using stigmatizing words or phrases that:
Suggest emotions are irrational. (“You’re overreacting.”)
Imply anxiety shows a lack of coping skills. (“You’re being too sensitive.”)
Assign blame. (“You shouldn’t focus on negative news.”)
Provide resources: Make sure employees know how to access mental health support by frequently communicating about available resources, including Employee Assistance Programs, the national mental health crisis number (988), and free services from organizations like NAMI, Active Minds, and other nonprofits.
Look for the signs: Train HR professionals and managers to recognize signs of eco-anxiety and direct team members to appropriate support.
Assess your needs: Regularly conduct pulse checks on which health care services your employees are using, and review disability claims to identify trends and prioritize necessary mental health support.
Get employees involved: Create opportunities for employees to actively participate in sustainability efforts, such as recycling programs, pollution reduction, and carbon footprint mitigation.
Empower ERGs: Start or support existing employee resource groups (ERGs) focused on sustainability, giving employees a chance to take part in environmental efforts and create positive change at work.
Team up for green spaces: Work with local governments and community groups to improve green spaces. This not only helps the environment but also boosts employees' mental health by connecting them with nature and giving them a way to take positive action together.
Panel Snapshot: Addressing the Mental Health Impacts of Our Changing Climate
In this panel discussion, moderated by Marcene Mitchell, Senior Vice President of Climate Change at the World Wildlife Fund, experts discussed the mental health impacts of extreme weather and how businesses can support their employees as our climate continues to change. Speakers included:
Katherine Catalano, Deputy Director of the Center for Climate, Health, and Equity at the American Public Health Association
Abner Mason, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at GroundGame.Health
Sarah Newman, Executive Director of the Climate Mental Health Network
Key Insights
Validating climate emotions: Validating people’s emotions about climate change — including anxiety, fear, anger, grief, sadness, despair, and burnout — is imperative to preventing employees from feeling isolated or alone with their concerns. Climate-related emotions are shared across people of all backgrounds, political beliefs, and job roles, making it a collective issue that workplaces must address.
Addressing unequal impact: Communities of color, low-income households, those experiencing homelessness, and immigrant populations face more severe health impacts due to climate change, largely because historical discriminatory practices, such as redlining, have led them to live in urban areas with higher temperatures, flood-prone regions, or areas exposed to industrial pollutants. Due to this heightened risk, workers from vulnerable communities may need more mental health support, such as rapid access to services like financial assistance or counseling.
Combating the care shortage: Over 150 million Americans live in areas with a severe shortage of mental health professionals, and traditional systems are overwhelmed, requiring employers to step in with proactive mental health support, especially as community-wide traumas like climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, gun violence, and discrimination increasingly impact workers. Employers should monitor and consider supporting The Community Mental Wellness and Resilience Act, currently under consideration by Congress, which would improve community-level efforts to address mental health challenges.
Turning concern into action: While climate emotions are often seen in a negative light, they can inspire people to connect, take action, and work together to tackle climate challenges. Companies that actively addressing the climate crisis help employees feel that their workplace is part of the solution, which improves morale and camaraderie among employees.
Engaging younger workers: Younger employees, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, often do not have a voice in company policy, making it important for leaders to proactively engage with them and address climate and mental health issues, rather than waiting for them to be brought up by employees.
Emergency planning: Encouraging employees to create their own emergency plans for specific scenarios relevant to their unique locations and situations can help them feel more secure and involved in their personal safety planning.
Insight Spotlight
“Burnout is real, and having difficult emotions around this issue is real. I have seen that eco-anxiety is real, and as employers, we need to find ways to bolster and sustain our hope and the passion that our employees feel about this issue and allow them to address the climate over time.”
–Marcene Mitchell, Senior Vice President of Climate Change at World Wildlife Fund
"The biggest impediment is shame and stigma. If the Vice President of the United States is ridiculed for talking about eco-anxiety, imagine what it's like for a person in the workplace who’s feeling this. We've got to deal with this stigma and shame issue. Because we're not going to make progress if we don't address it."
–Abner Mason, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at GroundGame.Health
“It's not an us-vs.-them issue. People of all political stripes, all backgrounds, all types of jobs, are experiencing a range of emotions, and it's very serious. And so what we found is that for workplaces, acknowledging this is a critical first step, so that people don't feel isolated or alone with these emotions.”
-Sarah Newman, Executive Director of the Climate Mental Health Network
“Eco-anxiety, eco-grief, climate anxiety stem in part from a sense of powerlessness. So building community and working together towards solutions can actually create a greater sense of agency and self-efficacy and can help battle some of that powerlessness and hopelessness and grief that folks are facing. Feeling like your employer is working towards this gives the employees an opportunity to be involved in that progress and is incredibly meaningful from a mental health standpoint.”
–Katherine Catalano, Deputy Director of the Center for Climate, Health, and Equity at the American Public Health Association
Take-Away Tactics
Validate people’s feelings: Normalize climate-related emotions and anxieties in the workplace to create a supportive environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their experiences.
Encourage open discussion: Foster open dialogue about climate-related concerns, removing stigma and making support easily accessible.
Train people managers: Educate supervisors on the unique needs of employees from vulnerable communities impacted by climate-related trauma. Make sure they know where to direct team members to receive support and resources.
Tailor your benefits: Make sure the mental health services you provide are equipped toaddress climate-related stress, and ensure these services are accessible to all employees.
Help workers take action together: Encourage employee participation in climate action initiatives to help reduce feelings of powerlessness and build collective resilience.
Resource Roundup
Here are some essential resources on mental health and climate resilience from the Health Action Alliance and the National Commission on Workforce Health:
HAA Resources
Employer and Employee Sheets on Climate and Health:
Climate Mental Health Network: A collaborative of community advocates who work to help people understand and cope with the emotional effects of climate change.
988: The national mental health crisis hotline in the United States, providing free, confidential support for people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, available 24/7.
Active Minds: A nonprofit organization that empowers students and young adults to speak openly about mental health, aiming to create supportive communities on college campuses and beyond.
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