Perceptions Towards Climate Change and Environmental Resilience Among Adults Living With Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study

This study aimed to explore the perceptions of climate change and environmental resilience among adults living with mental illness. A qualitative descriptive design was used for this study. To explore themes, 20 participants, from a community organisation that supports adults living with mental illness, were recruited to engage in focus groups. A semi-structured interview guide was used to facilitate the focus group discussion. Data analysis utilised the rigorous and accelerated data reduction (RADaR) technique. Guided by the Health Belief Model's core concepts, we learned that this population's perspectives on climate change varied based on their experiences, their vulnerabilities due to mental illness and socioeconomic conditions, and what they have seen and heard from external sources, including a related scientific seminar. Among the explored concepts, "Barriers to making positive changes to address climate change" was the most robust. Furthermore, although participants perceived multiple barriers to mitigate climate change, they identified diverse ways to take action and reduce its harmful impact. To better serve this vulnerable group, both individual-level interventions and policy and organisational changes are required to combat climate change and lessen its impacts among adults living with mental illness.