By Geralyn Magan
A new LTSS Center research report outlines how community stakeholders can help older adults better prepare for and recover from climate change-related emergencies.
People who are aged 65 and older are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Yet, they often are left out of climate change discussions and overlooked as a high-risk population by local and state public health departments, first responders, providers, and society until after an extreme weather event or disaster has occurred.
“Scientific and demographic projections suggest that this approach must change,” states a new research report from the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston.
The Impact of Climate Change: Why Older Adults are Vulnerable highlights the disproportionately negative, short- and long-term impacts of climate change on older adults and recommends actions that various stakeholders can take to address those impacts.
DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON OLDER ADULTS
Several physiological and psychological factors make older adults more vulnerable to climate change, according to the report. These factors include age-related mobility limitations, chronic conditions, susceptibility to dehydration, and diminished sensory awareness. Cognitive impairment, social isolation, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and racial and ethnic disparities can also make it more difficult for older adults to prepare for and recover from climate change-related emergencies.
The LTSS Center report cites research examining how several aspects of climate change—including extreme heat or cold, poor air quality, and extreme weather disasters—affect the health of older Americans. Older adults may be at increased risk for hospitalization, death, and negative physical and mental health outcomes due to climate change-related events and weather conditions, says the report. In addition, disruption of services due to forced evacuations during an extreme weather disaster can worsen preexisting conditions for people with chronic illness.
Despite their heightened vulnerability, most older adults are minimally prepared for climate-related disasters, according to the report. They generally do not have emergency plans, are not aware of relevant resources, and do not participate in disaster preparedness educational programs.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
The bulk of the LTSS Center report explores steps that various stakeholders—including older adults and their informal caregivers, and agencies and professionals serving older adults—can take to improve preparedness among older adults.
Specifically, the report outlines the role that frontline professionals can play in supporting older adults before and after climate change-related emergencies. These case managers, social workers, nurses, primary care physicians, and gerontologists regularly assess the social isolation, frailty, sensory impairment, mobility, and dementia status of their older clients.
“Having this assessment information on hand allows frontline professionals to create a profile of the health and social needs in the community, identify vulnerable persons, and anticipate their needs for health supplies like medications, equipment, and assistive aids,” the report points out. “This information also can help providers anticipate the need to train health personnel to assess and treat older persons during an emergency.”
IMMEDIATE AND FUTURE ACTIONS
LTSS Center researchers end their report by calling for policymakers, providers, and the public health system to take three immediate actions:
- Policymakers at all levels of government must recognize the special challenges facing older adults during climate emergencies, and must target specific resources to planning, intervention, follow-up, and support for older adults living in various settings.
- Providers of health and long-term services and supports (LTSS) need education about how climate change uniquely affects their older patients, residents, and clients and how they can support these older adults through prevention, early intervention, and longer-term oversight.
- The public health system, which has not focused adequate attention on addressing the needs of older adults, must build its knowledge, skills, and capacity to address the risks and consequences of climate change.
The report also calls for more study to better understand the health impacts of climate change among older adults and help them plan for and respond to the climate-related events. It recommends additional research to help policymakers, public health officials, providers, and other community stakeholders address the special needs of specific subgroups of the older population, including community-dwelling older adults who have LTSS needs, and older adults who belong to different racial and ethnic groups. These older adults may experience different risks related to climate change and may be impacted differently by climate change-related events.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information about climate change and older adults, read the full LTSS Center report, The Impact of Climate Change: Why Older Adults are Vulnerable.