The climate crisis is escalating and extreme heat events are becoming more frequent, more intense, and longer in duration. The health risks associated with extreme heat are well documented. However, ensuring the health of older adults –the fastest growing demographic in Canada – is a complex challenge that we are already facing today. Taking a design research approach, this study goes through a process of first diverging to explore the issue, and then converging on the ways in which communities can support older adults in adopting adaptive health-related behaviours in times of extreme heat. In exploration, this research connects with the voices of older adults, as well as professionals working in health, social and emergency service role to gain a deeper understanding of the challenge at hand.

The Health Belief Model, a framework for understanding health-related behaviours, is used to push examination further, and to define a set of design principles for innovation: encourage self-sufficiency and independence, promote learning and understanding of extreme heat risks, remove barriers or incentivize benefits to taking adaptive measures, support psychological wellbeing as well as physical health, maximize existing community resources, and broaden engagement of stakeholders. These principles are used to generate five community-based interventions suitable even for smaller cities that can help to protect older adults’ psychological and physical health while promoting new social practices and norms in times of extreme heat.