Experts say senior living communities are largely unprepared for the health hazards that will affect their residents due to warming global temperatures — and it's time to start making some changes to adapt.
What's happening?
In a piece for Willis Towers Watson, a British American company providing insurance services and consulting, experts specializing in infectious disease and clinical risk services asserted that senior living communities must start thinking about risk-management solutions and liability policies to protect their residents from climate-related disease outbreaks.
They cited information from The World Economic Forum, which reports that climate change can worsen 58% of human infectious diseases. For instance, warming temperatures across the globe are expected to cause a spike in mosquito-borne illnesses like Zika and West Nile virus.
The article suggested that senior living facilities should take action to better protect their residents, including promoting vaccine programs for influenza and pneumonia; conducting thorough infection control screening upon admission; and engaging in continuous monitoring of emerging threats.
"It is no longer a question of when climate change hazards will trigger or exacerbate an epidemic," they stated. "Moreover, healthcare operators and senior living communities are equally unprepared for it, and senior living operators must recognize the risk and ensure robust infectious disease surveillance to preserve the health and wellness of residents and their organizations."
Why is this recommendation important?
The authors asserted that senior living centers are as unprepared for upcoming climate challenges as they were for COVID-19 in 2019. Although less than 1% of the U.S. population resides in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, about 42% of all COVID-19 deaths took place in these facilities as of May 22, 2020, as Forbes detailed.
Moreover, nearly 58 million people in the U.S. were 65 or older as of 2022, according to America's Health Rankings, and this age group is more susceptible to succumbing to infectious diseases. For instance, most deaths from respiratory viruses, which also are expected to rise along with global temperatures, occur in people older than 65, as the Centers for Disease Control observed.
What's being done about rising global temperatures?
In addition to better preparing senior living facilities, we can help to reduce climate-driven health hazards for all communities by limiting the warming of our planet.
Some companies like Microsoft, Walmart, Apple, and Meta are already helping to cut planet-warming pollution as some of the biggest corporate solar energy users. Meanwhile, towns in rural Virginia are expected to add more than 1 million new jobs by focusing on clean energy instead of coal. You can help make a difference by voting for pro-climate candidates.
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