Living conditions and mental wellness in a changing climate and environment: focus on community voices and perceived environmental and adaptation factors in Greenland.

backgroundClimate change is a major global challenge, especially for Indigenous communities. It can have extensive impacts on peoples' lives that may occur through the living environment, health and mental well-being, and which are requiring constant adaptation.

objectivesThe overall purpose of this research was to evaluate the impacts of climate change and permafrost thaw on mental wellness in Disko Bay, Greenland. It contained two parts: multidisciplinary fieldwork and a questionnaire survey. The aim of the fieldwork was to learn about life and living conditions and to understand what it is like to live in a community that faces impacts of climate change and permafrost thaw. For the questionnaire the aim was to find out which perceived environmental and adaptation factors relate to very good self-rated well-being, quality of life and satisfaction with life. ANALYSIS: Fieldwork data was analyzed by following a thematic analysis, and questionnaire data statistically by cross-tabulation. First, the associations between perceived environmental and adaptation factors were studied either by the Pearson χ

resultsNature and different activities in nature were found to be important to local people, and results suggest that they increase mental wellness, specifically well-being and satisfaction with life. Challenges associated with permafrost thaw, such as changes in the physical environment, infrastructure and impacts on culture were recognized in everyday life.

conclusionsThe results offer relevant information for further plans and actions in this field of research and at the policy level. Our study shows the importance of multidisciplinary research which includes the voice of local communities.