Abstract
Health and social care systems (including the care needs of the population and infrastructures providing health and social care) are likely to be influenced by climate change, in particular by the increasing frequency and severity of weather-related hazards such as floods and heatwaves. Coldwaves will also continue to be challenging in the foreseeable future. Protecting people’s health and wellbeing from the impacts of climate change is especially important for older people, as they are particularly vulnerable to climate-related hazards. In addition, the proportion of people aged 65 and over is projected to increase significantly. This paper addresses these issues through a discussion of our work to map variations across England in future hazards, vulnerability and risk. We explain how this mapping has been used to identify areas of the country where the built infrastructure serving the older age group might be most severely impacted by climate-related events over the next 20–30 years and where planning for adaptation and resilience is most urgently required.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 16-24 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Applied Geography |
Volume | 33 |
Early online date | 29 Jun 2011 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2012 |
Keywords
- geriatric health
- climate change
- health care systems
- environmental impact