Optimizing the Health and Wellbeing of Older Adults in the Climate Crisis: Application of an Ecological Systems Model

Climate change threatens human health and wellbeing, and its effects fall more heavily on vulnerable populations such as older adults. Older adults are facing elevated risks of illnesses, diseases, injuries, and death from exposure to higher temperatures, air pollutants, and extreme weather events. Climate change is also a threat multiplier on older adults’ health by compounding the negative effects of other interconnected global issues, such as an aging population, insufficient geriatric workforce, increased ageism toward older adults, higher prevalence of mental health conditions, and worsening poverty. Addressing the physical and psychological health needs of older adults, then, is well-suited to a whole-of-society approach. Accordingly, this article uses a holistic, ecological systems model, Toward an Inclusive Intergenerational Model of Ecology (TIIME) as a springboard toward outlining the interdependent and multi-sector forces affecting the health and wellbeing of older adults in the climate crisis. Additionally, TIIME is used as a guide toward providing a set of interconnected recommendations for researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders: scaling up research and healthcare networks addressing mental health consequences associated with climate change; expanding the collection of longitudinal data and intersectional data on older adults’ climate-related risks, harms, and consequences; increasing aging education and climate literacy among older adults and their networks including the healthcare workforce and broader community; and accelerating the implementation of older adults’ protection and participation rights. A cross-cutting theme in this article is the need to expand intergenerational and interdisciplinary collaborations across local, national, and international levels toward better addressing older adults’ survival and quality of life in the climate crisis.