ARU project team
Sally Fowler Davis
Professor in Allied Health
Antonio Blanco-Montero
Senior Lecturer
This study will address how to effectively communicate with older populations using a co-production approach (Hanna et al., 2024) to engage and involve older people in poorer communities, specifically two cities within the East of England that share similar profiles on the multiple deprivation index (English Indices of Deprivation 2019).
A place-based community study (Sangaramoorthy and Kroeger, 2020) will enable insight on current resilience and gain understanding of climate related health impacts in each location, including identifying existing resilience within the context of the locality (Hanna et al., 2024). This provides a realistic place-based representation of what is required and what is possible, to enhance resilience and wellbeing to adapt to the challenges of climate related health risks faced by vulnerable older populations (Landauer et al., 2015).
The study will contribute to planning and practice and could inform prevention strategies and ultimately improve health and wellbeing outcomes (UK Research and Innovation, 2024).
Climate change is the most important challenge of our times, with the potential to aggravate and cause serious health problems and population level changes in the wellbeing of whole communities.
A recent UN report (2023) highlighted the urgent need for practical approaches to mitigate the impact of climate change amongst vulnerable people and communities.
As the impacts of climate change become more severe, the UK has begun to recognise that those who are older, vulnerable, and have multiple needs are at the eye of the storm in relation to climate risks and shock events. An increasing number of older people are living in poverty and struggling with poor health, thus amplifying their vulnerability to climate related health risks. Furthermore, health inequality is increasing by wealth, ethnicity and geography (Centre for Ageing Better, 2023; Marmot, 2020).
Research indicates that there is a knowledge gap in effective communication with older populations regarding impacts of climate change (Lie et al., 2022; Pinna et al., 2024). Furthermore, a lack of research exists around the needs of vulnerable older populations in relation to climate related health risks. Additionally, more action at a local level is needed to engage societal responsibility and enhance place-based support for vulnerable older populations to provide better adaptation to climate related risks (Kongsager, 2018; Landauer et al., 2015; Woolrych, Haq and Latter, 2023).
In the UK, older populations are predicted to increase from 11 to 13 million people, equating to 22% of the total population over the age of 65 years within a decade (Centre for Ageing Better, 2023).
Professor in Allied Health
Senior Lecturer
