GCPH Blog

May is an important month - it’s Mental Health Awareness Month! Mental health is a foundational aspect of people’s well-being. Throughout life, mental health can shift and change just as physical health can. Building individual resilience can help a person navigate these difficult times in life. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ Resilient Wisconsin campaign outlines four types of individual resilience; physical, mental, emotional, and social. Keep reading to learn more about the importance of each of these types of resilience and how to build resilience in that area. 

By Dea Larsen Converse  

In communities across the Midwest, climate change is harming our health now. The latest report from the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) shows that more flooding, extreme weather events, longer growing seasons, and warmer average temperatures are contributing to an increase in heat-related illness, infectious diseases spread by mosquitoes and ticks, illnesses from contaminated food and water, worsening chronic illnesses, injuries and deaths from dangerous weather events, and mental health problems. 

On March 13, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the United States has remained under a state of emergency declaration. Recently though, President Joe Biden announced that he plans to end the public health emergency on May 11, 2023.