Planetary and mental health: a review for psychiatry education development

Abstract

Healthcare students and professionals need high-quality, evidence-based education that empowers them to meet emerging mental health challenges associated with climate change and other planetary health issues. This narrative review aims to identify key topics for planetary and mental health education and critically examines evidence to support the timely development of educational resources for students, trainees and experienced clinicians in Australia and New Zealand, as well as to promote sustainability and climate resilience. The review was performed as part of the Doctors for the Environment’s (Silbert, Chanchlani & Lee 2025.) Specialty-Based Planetary Health Curriculum Development Project. A search was undertaken on MEDLINE, with screening in Covidence resulting in the inclusion of 105 research papers. Key topics emerged from the literature including direct impacts (pollution, heat, environmental degradation, extreme weather events), physical health, indirect impacts, population risks, clinical interventions, awareness of these issues, and sustainability and advocacy. These topics were mapped to potential learning points at student, generalist and specialist education levels.Climate-informed mental health care is an active area of knowledge production with opportunities for further high-level evidence and primary educational research. While this narrative review is unable to provide definitive or exhaustive conclusions on this expanding field of study, it is valuable as a foundation to direct Australia–New Zealand focused curriculum development for educators across universities, healthcare services and specialist colleges. Keywords: climate change, mental health, psychiatry, education, planetary health, sustainable healthcare