Voting is a Social Determinant of Mental Health
The American Medical Association recently issued two important declarations:
1) Climate Change Is A Public Health Crisis &
2) Voting Is A Social Determinant Of Health
People who vote influence their health outcomes and what action is taken on climate change. As health professionals, we can help our patients understand that VOTING gives them a voice in the policies that affect access to health care, clean air and water, and a safe climate to live in.
That’s why Voting 4 climate & Health in collaboration with Climate Psychiatry Alliance is partnering with Vot-ER.
Vot-ER integrates voter registration into the healthcare delivery system. Vot-ER seeks to engage health professionals in turning patients into registered and consistent voters, based on a core belief that empowered voices and full participation in the democratic process lead to positive health outcomes.
Join us in using Vot-ER tools to uplift patient voices today!
What you can do:
Present to your administration or at grand rounds using pre-made slides
Send an email to your colleagues and peers, and ask them to get Vot-ER badges.
Get involved with Voting!
To seed inspiration, here’s a couple of ways that you can engage, with specific guidance, templates, and how-to guides in the resources enclosed in this newsletter:
Engage candidates by attending forums and using your voice to ask questions;
Spread the news by writing op-eds to local news to voice climate values;
Protect voting, especially by serving as a poll watcher if you’re able to take 1 day or part of a day off work;
Speak with voters directly by phone banking or door-to-door canvassing
1. Check out these resources, guides, and toolkits:
Meeting the Moment 2026 Midterm Election Toolkit, a comprehensive guide to engaging in midterm elections. Includes:
Engaging with candidates, including sample climate-health-related questions for candidate events, forums
Protect voting, serving as a poll worker, election protection volunteer and more
Social media guidance for organizations, with climate, health, and pollution facts and messaging guidance and templates with word choices
ecoAmerica has developed many useful resources:
Election Earth, a program providing trusted, nonpartisan tools to vote with clarity, purpose, and confidence.
10 wk activation GOTV toolkit one simple action each week that you can share to get vote ready
Tools to Help You Vote + Take Action resources to know your rights, make informed choices, vote your climate values, and take action.
Candidate and Ballot Assessment Tool guides to how to make choices in assessing local candidates’ environmental commitments and ballot measures.
Vote for Kids by the Children’s Environmental Health Network reminds us that children cannot vote but we can and must in order to protect the world they will live in.
Voter Guide Toolkit assess your local, state, and federal candidates to make sure they’re keeping children at the center of their decisions.
Companion Toolkit for the Voter Guide offers practical, step-by-step guidance to evaluate candidates’ records, policy positions, and commitments.
A Non-Partisan Field Guide to Connecting the Dots for Candidates & Voters, created by Climate Max, with guides for messaging strategies, best practices to engage candidates and voters, fact sheets on key issues, and model questions to ask candidates.
BONUS SINGING IT OUT ABC-Democracy: the latest release by Raffi, legendary Canadian children’s singer-songwriter, renowned for the much-loved song “Baby Beluga”.
Raffi is a long-time climate activist and is the Founder of Child Honouring. He recognizes the importance of voting to protect democracy and our planet for all children.
2. Make sure young colleagues are registered
Share this guide with them. Many medical students and residents may have moved to new communities as they embark on the next training steps. The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health has created a Resident and Trainee Voter Guide that outlines all the information they need to make a plan and vote this November – and every election, including details on requesting an absentee ballot, early voting options, and finding your polling place.
3. More direct actions you could take for midterm elections:
Poll Watching
Voter intimidation is a real concern. Help protect safe voting at the polls by serving as a poll watcher, especially in communities of greatest risk. The Election Assistance Commission has resources for each state listed here. You can also check your local League of Women Voters and ACLU for training opportunities.
Phone banking: Environmental Voter Project: identifies non-voting environmentalists and turns them into consistent votersVotER has active phone banking programs, voter turnout plan building and more!– check them out here.
Door-to-door canvassing for climate-committed candidates: the most effective way to impact voters is through 1:1 conversations. Identify candidates that reflect climate values and check their website for volunteer activities.