Climate Change, Community Understanding and Emotional Responses to the Impacts of Heat Waves in Adelaide

Akompab, Derick A.; Bi, Peng; Williams, Susan; Saniotis, Arthur; Walker, Iain; Augoustinos, Martha

doi:10.18848/1835-7156/cgp/v04i02/37164

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Individual vulnerability to heat in rural communities was largely attributed to age, health, housing and cooling methods. The cost of air-conditioning was described as a major barrier to keeping cool, which is consistent with other Australian studies [ 39 , 41 , 42 ]. In addition, rural residents have limited public transport options and can be isolated from town, restricting their access to relief or help during the heat.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Extreme Heat and Health: Perspectives from Health Service Providers in Rural and Remote Communities in South Australia

Williams

Newbury

et al. 2013

IJERPH

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Among the challenges for rural communities and health services in Australia, climate change and increasing extreme heat are emerging as additional stressors. Effective public health responses to extreme heat require an understanding of the impact on health and well-being, and the risk or protective factors within communities. This study draws on lived experiences to explore these issues in eleven rural and remote communities across South Australia, framing these within a socio-ecological model. Semi-structured interviews with health service providers (n = 13), and a thematic analysis of these data, has identified particular challenges for rural communities and their health services during extreme heat. The findings draw attention to the social impacts of extreme heat in rural communities, the protective factors (independence, social support, education, community safety), and challenges for adaptation (vulnerabilities, infrastructure, community demographics, housing and local industries). With temperatures increasing across South Australia, there is a need for local planning and low-cost strategies to address heat-exacerbating factors in rural communities, to minimise the impact of extreme heat in the future.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Extreme Heat and Health: Perspectives from Health Service Providers in Rural and Remote Communities in South Australia

Williams

Newbury

et al. 2013

IJERPH

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“…A qualitative study was conducted to explore participants’ mental model about the consequences of heat waves in Adelaide. Participants indicated that heat waves were associated with health, social, environmental, psychological and emotional consequences [46]. An interesting finding from this study was about the immediacy of the effects of heat waves.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Awareness of and Attitudes towards Heat Waves within the Context of Climate Change among a Cohort of Residents in Adelaide, Australia

Akompab

Williams

et al. 2012

IJERPH

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Heat waves are a public health concern in Australia and unprecedented heat waves have been recorded in Adelaide over recent years. The aim of this study was to examine the perception and attitudes towards heat waves in the context of climate change among a group of residents in Adelaide, an Australian city with a temperate climate. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the summer of 2012 among a sample of 267 residents. The results of the survey found that television (89.9%), radio (71.2%), newspapers (45.3%) were the main sources from which respondents received information about heat waves. The majority of the respondents (73.0%) followed news about heat waves very or somewhat closely. About 26.6% of the respondents were extremely or very concerned about the effects of heat waves on them personally. The main issues that were of personal concern for respondents during a heat wave were their personal comfort (60.7%), their garden (48.7%), and sleeping well (47.6%). Overall, respondents were more concerned about the impacts of heat waves to the society than on themselves. There was a significant association between gender (χ² = 21.2, df = 3, p = 0.000), gross annual household income (p = 0.03) and concern for the societal effects of heat waves. Less than half (43.2%) of the respondents believed that heat waves will extremely or very likely increase in Adelaide according to climate projections. Nearly half (49.3%) believed that the effects of heat waves were already being felt in Adelaide. These findings may inform the reframing and communication strategies for heat waves in Adelaide in the context of climate change.

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“…Overall, it appears that relatively few Canadians and Americans associate climate change and health harms; most report they have given little thought to the issue [ 31 , 37 ]. The depth of participants’ knowledge and risk perceptions is difficult to assess because people’s answers to open-ended questions give the impression of relatively little knowledge and risk perception [ 31 , 34 , 35 , 38 ], whereas people’s answers to closed-ended questions demonstrate much higher level of risk perception [ 31 , 34 , 35 , 39 ]. Specifically, only a minority of survey participants answer open-ended questions in ways that suggest they know anything about how climate change harms health, or who is most likely to be harmed [ 11 , 38 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The depth of participants’ knowledge and risk perceptions is difficult to assess because people’s answers to open-ended questions give the impression of relatively little knowledge and risk perception [ 31 , 34 , 35 , 38 ], whereas people’s answers to closed-ended questions demonstrate much higher level of risk perception [ 31 , 34 , 35 , 39 ]. Specifically, only a minority of survey participants answer open-ended questions in ways that suggest they know anything about how climate change harms health, or who is most likely to be harmed [ 11 , 38 ]. However, when asked specific closed-ended questions, a majority of respondents answer in a manner indicating that they do perceive climate change to be harmful to health [ 31 , 37 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Implications of Climate Change: a Review of the Literature About the Perception of the Public and Health Professionals

Hathaway

Maibach

2018

Curr Envir Health Rpt

126

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Purpose of ReviewThrough a systematic search of English language peer-reviewed studies, we assess how health professionals and the public, worldwide, perceive the health implications of climate change.Recent FindingsAmong health professionals, perception that climate change is harming health appears to be high, although self-assessed knowledge is low, and perceived need to learn more is high. Among the public, few North Americans can list any health impacts of climate change, or who is at risk, but appear to view climate change as harmful to health. Among vulnerable publics in Asia and Africa, awareness of increasing health harms due to specific changing climatic conditions is high. Americans across the political and climate change opinion spectra appear receptive to information about the health aspects of climate change, although findings are mixed.SummaryHealth professionals feel the need to learn more, and the public appears open to learning more, about the health consequences of climate change.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s40572-018-0190-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Climate Change, Community Understanding and Emotional Responses to the Impacts of Heat Waves in Adelaide

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Extreme Heat and Health: Perspectives from Health Service Providers in Rural and Remote Communities in South Australia

Extreme Heat and Health: Perspectives from Health Service Providers in Rural and Remote Communities in South Australia

Awareness of and Attitudes towards Heat Waves within the Context of Climate Change among a Cohort of Residents in Adelaide, Australia

Health Implications of Climate Change: a Review of the Literature About the Perception of the Public and Health Professionals

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