Impact of Climate Change on Elderly People in City of Busselton, Australia

Running head: HEALTH AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Impact of climate change on the elderly people in City of Busselton, Australia
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1HEALTH AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Introduction- the impact of climate change on the ageing population is creating issues
the world over and it is going to increase in the coming decades. The ill effects of the climate
change are felt world over and have negatively affected the lives, well-being and the health of
elderly people world over. The elderly population that are residing in the countries that have
low to middle income are constantly exposed to the risks because the elderly people are the
most vulnerable section of the society (Leyva, Beaman and Davidson 2017). This topic has
interested me because there is a need to properly assess the impact on climate on the
wellbeing and health of the elderly people. The older people are affected more by the
increased effects of temperature, and the extremes of temperature have severely increased the
mortality risks. The high probability of the risk is due to the stress on the water and food
supply, reduced mobility and increased susceptibility towards disease. I have found from the
literature that the economic and the social factors also play a role in increasing the
vulnerability of the older people. This study is based on the impact of climate change on the
elderly people in City of Busselton, Australia.
Background of the issue- According to the IPCC, weather reacted to extreme events
are more intense and extreme due to the increase in the global temperature rise. This trend
will continue to rise in future considering the fact that the carbon emissions are continuing to
rise unabated. With the rise in temperature, heatwaves, droughts and the floods will continue
to rise and this will pose a threat to the humans in the future (Ipcc.ch 2018). Thus, the global
climate change will bring with it the common share of vulnerabilities that will change the
course of life. The older people are the major risk of social isolation and chronic health
problems (Götschke et al. 2017). This will put a lot of pressure on the already strained limited
services. Older people face the lack of proper access to the healthcare services and this
creates a climate-related stress. Due to this, the minor condition has a probability of
becoming a major condition and this decreases the ability of the older person to cope with the

2HEALTH AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
vulnerabilities (Kabir et al. 2016). Often the older people play a vital role in the family and
they perform a range of activities, however, activities often get hindered due to the several
impacts of the climate change. During the emergencies, it has been seen that the older people
are unwilling to move out of their house due to the lack of mobility. Thus, the older people
struggle to travel long distances, obtain food and also lack the capability to endure long
periods without shelter. The stakeholders identified in this issue are directly involved in the
process (Carnes, Staats and Willcox 2013).
Floods: the recent rise in temperature has led to the river floods and an increase in the
global sea level rise. This has led sea water and flood water to intrude into the residential
areas and dismantling the normal process of life. The older people are the worst sufferers
from the impact of flood and the associated flood-related diseases (Cann et al. 2013). Thus,
causing high rates of mortality. In comparison to the other age group, the older people are the
worst affected population due to secondary health problems like heart-related issues and
hypothermia (Bei et al. 2013).
Hurricanes and typhoons- with the global rise in temperature, the intensity of the
storms have increased and this has substantially increased the rates of precipitation. There are
pieces of evidence that point towards the fact that the older people are most likely to suffer
the most due to the lack of mobility and insufficient evacuation facilities. This is worst
among the older people that are socially isolated, chronically ill, disabled and poor (Lane et
al. 2013).
Heatwaves- the global increase in temperature has increased the rates of severe
weather events and this, in turn, has led to the events like extreme heatwaves in regions that
are already experiencing high temperatures throughout the year (Trenberth 2012). It has been
estimated by older people that the young children and the older people are most affected by

3HEALTH AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
the issues related to heatwaves and additionally every year about 38,000 deaths occur due to
heatwaves. Also, individual health problems increase due to the existing health problems like
the cardiovascular diseases (Kenney, Craighead and Alexander 2014).
Screening process-
Tendency
to do an
HIA
To your knowledge:
Tendenc
y not to
do an
HIA
Yes Are there potential positive and/or negative health
impacts of the policy, program, or project to be
assessed that need further investigation?
No/ maybe
No/ maybe Are there any major political obstacles/barriers to
successfully completing a health impact assessment
on this policy, program or project?
Yes
Yes/ maybe Are the individuals and organizations with a stake in
this policy, program or project likely to buy into the
HIA process? No
Yes Is your organization willing to act as the lead agency
in conducting the health impact assessment on this
policy, program or project, OR have you contacted
another organization that will?
No
Yes Are the combined resources of the lead agency and its
partners likely to be sufficient to complete an HIA on
this policy, program or project, or can resources be
accessed?
No
Yes Can a health impact assessment on this policy,
program, or project be completed within a time frame
that is useful for influencing decision-making? No
High
High
What is your sense of the likelihood that the health
impacts of this policy, program or project might be
intensified for disadvantaged groups?
Positive health impacts and/or
Negative health impacts
Moderate/
low
Moderate/
low