Chapter 3: Seek Potential in Engagement and Service Integration to Foster Community Resilience for Climate Anxiety: A Scoping Review

Community resilience is increasingly considered a vital strategy to bounce back from climate-related mental health challenges. This study conducted a scoping review following Arksey and O’Malley’s five-step framework. Using MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and PubMed, the review focused on literature from 2020 to 2023 that discussed climate anxiety and community resilience. Inclusion criteria encompassed peer-reviewed studies that targeted climate anxiety as a health concern and proposed coping strategies promoting community resilience. Articles were assessed for their characteristics and engagement components in fostering adaptation to climate anxiety. The search yielded 159 citations, with 8 studies meeting the criteria after a full-text review. Findings revealed three primary strategies for coping with climate anxiety: climate activism, education, and relationship-building initiatives, with varying degrees of community engagement. Youth-centered approaches dominated, while marginalized groups, particularly women and Indigenous communities, were underrepresented. The literature emphasized engagement but lacked standardization in measuring resilience outcomes, suggesting a gap in evidence-based interventions and regulated frameworks. Climate anxiety represents a growing mental health concern that demands a proactive, community-based approach. Current coping strategies underscore the potential of resilience-building through social networks and engagement. Integrating climate anxiety interventions within existing health systems, such as the Integrated Youth Services (IYS), offers a promising pathway to address resource constraints and enhance accessibility. Future research should prioritize culturally sensitive methodologies, inclusion of underrepresented equity-deserving groups, and the development of preventive strategies to build resilient communities equipped with the capacity to cope with climate anxiety.