Climate change is increasingly recognised as a driver of mental health risks, from acute trauma following disasters to chronic stress linked to environmental, social and economic disruption. For insurers, these impacts have growing implications for risk assessment, claims management and customer outcomes, yet mental health considerations remain only partially integrated into core insurance processes.
This webinar introduces the Mental Health Integration Guide: A Tool for Insurers developed by the PSI Canadian Insurance Industry Task Force. Building on the 2023 position paper Closing the protection gap in Canada: A social sustainability framework for the Canadian life and health insurance industry, the guide provides a structured, industry-led framework to support insurers in beginning to integrate mental health considerations across core business functions.
Organized around the four stages of disaster risk management—mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery—the guide identifies practical entry points across strategy, underwriting, product development, claims and customer engagement, while remaining adaptable across markets and lines of business.
Through a structured discussion, speakers will explore how insurers can apply this framework in practice—from underwriting and product development, to customer outreach and preparedness, claims handling and response, and post-event recovery and resilience.
This session aims to help participants to:
- Understand how climate change affects mental health—and why it matters for insurers
- Identify where mental health risks may intersect with insurance portfolios
- Explore how to apply the four-stage framework (mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery)
- Gain practical entry points for integrating mental health into core processes
This session is designed for insurance practitioners across underwriting, claims, product and risk, as well as sustainability and strategy teams, brokers and intermediaries, and policymakers and supervisors interested in emerging risk areas.