Health impacts of climate change in the UK: A qualitative synthesis detailing the conjuncture of social structure, extreme weather, and mental health

Abstract

This qualitative synthesis explores the experiences of UK communities facing growing health risks from climate change and extreme weather. The eight included studies show the profound impacts of extreme weather events such as floods on mental health, including challenges to self-identity and anxiety from the fear of flooding returning. Included data reveal individual and household impacts of extreme weather are mediated by a complex interaction of institutional support, community support, gender inequalities and personal agency. These factors are assessed against the backdrop of broader concepts in the social science and adaptation literature, including the role of the state, the inseparability of nature and society, the overlooked role of social structure, and environmental justice. It is argued that the use of qualitative synthesis methods in this topic area allows for an interconnected and context-sensitive analysis of the health impacts of climate change facing communities, diverging from other analytical approaches through inclusion of considerations such as social power, community dynamics, and the inter-relation of institutional action, community cohesion and individual agency. The resulting findings show how locally specific and highly contextual qualitative data can be used by those seeking to understand health risks from climate change within a locality.

Keywords

• Climate change
• Adaptation
• Extreme weather
• Mental health
• Health inequalities
• Environmental justice