Module 2 – Week 1: Indirect health impacts

Goal: The student interprets the indirect health impacts of exposure to extreme heat.

 We distinguish between indirect and direct health impacts (see Figure 2.1.). In this week you will study the indirect health impacts. In figure 2.1 the indirect health impacts are on the right side. Heat may impact health services, may increase the risk of accidents, may increase transmission of air and water-related diseases and also the countries' infrastructure may be negatively affected.  By reading and scrolling the literature and websites as provided this week, your understanding of how heat and health are interrelated will deepen. The factsheet on climate change, heat and health of WHO (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health#Overview) or pages 16-21 of the Template (climatelinks.org) are highly recommended.

Figure 2.1 Health impacts of exposure to extreme heat

Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health#Overview

 

 

 To understand the indirect health impacts of heat, a model of health is helpful. The impact is indirect because the heat addresses determinants of health. The term ‘determinants of health’ was introduced in the 1970s and it refers to those factors that have a significant influence, whether positive or negative, on health.  One of the early health models was developed by Blum (1974) and adapted by Dahlgren and Whitehead in 1991 (see Figure 2.2).

 

Figure 2.2: Determinants of health

Source: Dahlgren en Whitehead (1991).

The heat addresses all the determinants as referred to in the model. Heat may cause serious problems for food production and agriculture, as the ground may be too dry or the heat may cause damage to harvest. This will again have implications for economic growth, and the welfare of farmer families but may also have direct consequences for daily food intake. Heat also influences the circumstances of work and education. It depends very much on the possibilities of cooling the environment and whether it is possible to do your work in a concentrated way. And if your work or education is outdoors, precautions need to be taken to be able to perform safely and responsibly. Accidents are more likely to happen. It also may disrupt the infrastructure, as there are fewer possibilities to cool down systems. Often one is asked to use less energy, this is contradictory to the need for energy to cool down places or places that use a lot of energy to get things running (such as a hospital or nursing home).

Also, living conditions may get worse as not only outdoor but also indoor temperatures may rise in periods of extreme heat. But also the health care system itself may get hit by high temperatures. Ambulances may have to ride out more often and the response time may therefore slow down with consequences for life and death. There may be an increase in hospital admissions. When it is hot people seek cool places, amongst others this may be lakes, rivers or the sea. There may therefore also be an increase of people who cannot swim who attend this water; which also influences the chances of people drowning. At the same time when it is extremely hot, there may also be water which is poisoned or infected with diseases which is dangerous for the people who use this water to cool down. Extreme heat may also cause wildfires. Due to less water and high outside temperatures, this is extremely difficult to combat. It also will have negative implications for air quality which is already reduced by extreme heat as this intensifies ground-level Ozone. The last thing to mention is the social effects of extreme heat; in the following video, this is nicely illustrated.

How Extreme Heat May Impact Your Mental Health


 

 

People stay more often in their homes. Meaning that they do not speak or meet other people.  They may get lonely. Even if they are not ill or disabled some of them are may in these circumstances not able to take care of themselves, in terms of going out to go to a supermarket preparing a meal or reminding him or herself to drink enough. All with consequences for their mental but eventually also physical health.

Knowledge Check

To check if you reached the goal, try to answer the following questions:

1.  Can you explain how extreme heat may harm the economy of a country? 

(please insert h5p card module 2 1.1)

 answer 1. This is a general answer: Heat conditions can alter human behaviour, the transmission of diseases, and health service delivery of air quality. It may profoundly affect a country's critical infrastructures such as energy, transport, and water. This will hurt the workforce's productivity and the production of goods and delivery of services.  To cool down buildings and workplaces, an increase in energy is needed. Cooling down the external environment needs long-term planning and investments.


2.  Why are the indirect health impacts of heat potentially more consequential in terms of the number of people affected compared to direct health impacts?

(please insert h5p card module 2 1.2)

 answer 2. This is a general answer: The health impacts of extreme heat can be more pronounced depending on physical condition and age. Direct health effects of extreme heat affect especially groups who are vulnerable such as outdoor workers, older people, homeless persons, athletes, children, pregnant women and people with underlying (chronic) disease. Together they may represent a certain percentage of inhabitants of a country. However, all inhabitants of a country can be indirectly affected when heat increases stress on critical food and water systems or the infrastructure.

 

     # References



Last modified: Wednesday, 13 November 2024, 1:36 PM