Fiona Charlson

Exploring the development of community-based interventions to mitigate the mental health impacts of climate change

Climate change is the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. While certain physical health impacts of climate change are well understood, for example heat-related morbidity and mortality, the acute and chronic mental health impacts of climate change remain poorly understood. Depression is already the single largest contributor to global disability. Failing to adequately consider the climate change implications on mental health could further exacerbate and accelerate growing global trends in mental ill-health.

The many varied links between climate change and mental health, which are highly socially and culturally mediated, raise challenges in the understanding, operationalisation and measurement of these complex relationships. This impedes our understanding of how to design and deliver effective interventions that reduce the mental health impacts of climate change and secure community social and emotional wellbeing. This PhD research will address these gaps through exploring the development of interventions that aim to mitigate the mental health impacts of climate change.

This PhD research will be conducted in partnership with the UQ Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Climate Change Network and supervised by Associate Professor Fiona Charlson, School of Public Health, and by Dr Anne Cleary, Institute for Social Science Research.

Using systems thinking methods to understand how climate change will impact Australia’s health workforce

This is an exciting opportunity to undertake a funded PhD research program in the area of systems science, climate change, and health workforce improvement. The chosen candidate will work alongside a team of established multidisciplinary researchers and apply qualitative and/or quantitative systems science methods to explore how climate change may impact existing workforce systems as a basis to identify systemic vulnerabilities, structural resilience, and potential points of leverage for intervention and policy action. This PhD program and the knowledge generated have the potential to make a genuine difference to both theory and practice for an increasingly critical issue that intersects both environmental and healthcare sectors. Whilst the use of systems thinking methodologies is essential, the prospective candidate may branch out to consider systemic shocks more broadly, such as the implications of AI integration, existential risks, or other significant disruptions. The scope of research can encompass both micro-level health service systems or macro-level frameworks, providing a versatile and impactful avenue for inquiry.