A new project encourages healthcare professionals to discuss the health risks related to heat increases with their patients, especially as temperature highs and heatwaves are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
The Initiative: A pilot project by the non-profit Climate Central and Harvard University’s Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment targets healthcare workers with alerts regarding rising local temperatures.
* The program was tested in 12 clinics located across seven states: California, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
* The alerts were triggered when local temperatures reached the 90th and 95th percentiles.
* These alerts remind doctors like Dr. Rebecca Rogers to focus on patients who are especially vulnerable to the heat.
Vulnerable Populations: Certain groups of people are more endangered than others when it comes to heat-related health risks.
* High-risk groups include outdoor workers, the elderly, people with heart disease, diabetes or kidney disease, pregnant individuals, youth athletes, and those without access to air conditioning or stable housing.
Concerns: Simple prevention steps aren’t always enough, and many heat-related health issues still remain understudied or unsolved.
* Medical professionals like Dr. Rogers have started creating heat mitigation plans with their high-risk patients.
* There are often issues related to financial limitations and lack of access to resources like air conditioning or cooling centers in certain areas.
Potential Improvement: There are calls for heat warnings to become a built-in feature in electronic medical records and for healthcare institutions to have more resources for proper staff outreach.
* The program could also extend to including pharmacists.
* Health risks related to heat exposure will remain a concern due to the ongoing issue of climate change.
Research Requirements: Presently, many people do not take heat warnings seriously, indicating that more research is required on how to effectively motivate people to take action.
* A survey in four American cities during heatwaves showed only about half of residents took precautions to protect their health.
* Researcher Kristie Ebi encourages more behavioral health research to encourage action among those who don’t perceive themselves to be at risk.
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