AIMA is delighted to bring you a fascinating new webinar series exploring the topic of Health and Climate Change. With the recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report confirming the widespread, rapid, and intensifying threat of climate change, we'll ask a range of highly acclaimed and knowledgable professionals to take a look at the impacts related to health.

The first webinar in our series will focus on Climate Anxiety and Lifestyle Medicine presented by Dr Wendy McLean from vital.ly.

When: Thursday 28th October 2021, 6:00-7:00 pm AEST or 8:00-9:00pm NZST

Tickets: $15 AIMA Members, $25 Non-members, $10 Students with ID.

Climate change is recognised as the greatest health threat of the 21st century and has significant impacts on physical and mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. However, while we are beginning to acknowledge the physical effects of climate change, such as illness and injury related to floods, droughts or bushfires; pollution; spread of disease and food insecurity; mental health is often overlooked.

Recent surveys indicate that Australians are three times more worried about climate change than COVID-191 and that four in five Australian adolescents are anxious about climate change2. Climate change's current and future impact may elevate people's experiences of fear, distress, and climate anxiety. Climate anxiety, also known as eco-anxiety, is the constant worry about climate change and can manifest in many ways. Long term, these elevated and sustained levels of stress and anxiety can translate into an increase in mental illness rates and severity and can impair immune system function and our overall resilience to climate change.

In this webinar, we will explore the impacts of climate change on mental health, particularly climate anxiety, and the potential impacts on immune resilience. In addition, it will address nutritional and lifestyle factors that can help an individual mitigate and adapt to the risks of climate change while also strengthening individual mental health and immune resilience.

Patrick, R., Garad, R., Snell, T., Enticott, J., & Meadows, G. Australians report climate change as a bigger concern than COVID-19. The Journal of Climate Change and Health. 2021; 3, 100032.
Australian Psychological Society. Young People’s voices in the climate crisis [Internet]. The Australian Psychological Society Limited 2019 [cited 2021 September 29]. Available from: tps://psychweek.org.au/wp/wp...

Wendy McLean BHSc (Naturopathy), BAdvSci(Hons), PhD

Wendy is a qualified Naturopath and educator at vital.ly where she plays a central role in developing educational content and resources for healthcare professionals. She has a passion for following the latest scientific research and integrating it with traditional knowledge and clinical experience to deliver clinically relevant information to practitioners. Wendy has been providing educational material, training, and practitioner technical support for several years, and has delivered education at practitioner events throughout Australia.

As a researcher and author for the Australian Journal of Herbal and Naturopathic Medicine, Wendy is dedicated to critically evaluating traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine research, and fostering research and education in Australia.

Wendy also has a background in Earth and Environmental Science and has completed a Bachelor of Advanced Science and a PhD in hydrogeology. She has over 15 years’ experience in environmental assessment and research and was awarded an Australian Research Council Fellowship in 2009. Wendy has presented environmental research at national and international conferences, published peer-reviewed research, participated on government expert advisory committees, and has lectured in environmental science and geology at university and for industry. Wendy’s experience working on contaminated sites led her to becoming passionate about Environmental Medicine and pursuing further studies in Naturopathy.