Community plays a major – and possibly unsurprising – role in keeping people safe during extreme heat events. Researchers have found that most heat deaths happen at home among people living alone with few social or community connections and that heat events themselves can drive people to isolate themselves at home.
“It's been hotter. I don't head to the pool as often as I used to, but I guess the heat's gotten so bad, I'd rather just stay at home instead of trying to enjoy the day.” - Heat Storytelling project
Social isolation and extreme heat exposure can collectively worsen health risks such as depression, anxiety, and heart and respiratory disease. People with pre-existing health issues, such as chronic and mental illness and substance use disorder, are predisposed to experiencing social isolation, thereby making them even more vulnerable.
On the flip side, social contact has been found to reduce mortality and health risks during heat waves. One explanation is that people living with others are more likely to adopt adaptive measures, such as drinking more liquids, using air conditioning, or seeking cooling shelters. Social cohesion also helps shape heat risk perception. For example, living alone is associated with higher risk exposure and perception, but living with another person can increase risk perception too, when someone is concerned about a spouse, child, or older parent. People who have strong social ties are more likely to check in on family or neighbors and to employ more adaptive behaviors.
MAPC has spearheaded multiple projects related to heat resilience and community. Community Heat Resilience Project:
- Community Heat Resilience Project — a Barr Foundation pilot, in partnership with MAPC and Frontline Solutions, that helps three Greater Boston communities shift from treating heat as an emergency to long-term, collaborative planning. It works by building lasting relationships among municipalities, community-based organizations, and environmental justice communities around piloting community-drive heat mitigation projects.
- MetroWest Climate Equity Project — a partnership among Ashland, Natick, and Framingham that centers community voice in climate planning. The project hired and trained local Climate Liaisons to lead conversations with residents in environmental justice neighborhoods, building the relationships and trust at the heart of social cohesion. A follow-up effort brought older adults together with Center on Aging staff to help design cooling-center programming and outreach materials for their peers.
MAPC and our partners also offer several resources to help strengthen community connection and resilience:
- Accelerating Climate Resilience Grant Program, a partnership with the Barr Foundation, provides funding for actionable interventions that build long-term readiness. Its goal is to help municipalities advance strategies that protect people, places, and communities from climate impacts with a prioritization for projects that advance climate equity, regional coordination, and social cohesion. Shade is Social Justice is an example of an ACR-funded grantee project in Cambridge using shade structures as a combined cooling and equity intervention.
- Accelerating Climate Resilience (ACR) Speaker Series is a public webinar series where experts and practitioners from across the country share innovative ways to advance resilience strategies that protect people, places, and communities from climate change.
- Climate Readiness Trainings and Liaison Resource Hub is an inventory of adaptable resources for developing and managing climate community liaison roles, with an overview of why these roles matter and guidance for building them into municipal projects and planning processes.
Building heat resilience is, at its heart, about building community. We'll be back tomorrow with more. Until then, stay cool and check in on a neighbor.