The impact of climate change related extreme weather events on people with pre-existing disabilities and chronic conditions: a scoping review

Abstract

Purpose

People with disabilities experience a disproportionate impact of extreme weather events and there is a critical need to better understand the impact that climate change has for them. Most previous reviews focus on the risk of acquiring a new disability or injury after a climate-related event and not the impact on people with pre-existing disabilities or chronic conditions, which is the purpose of this study.

Methods

We conducted a scoping review while searching seven international databases that identified 45 studies meeting our inclusion criteria.

Results

The studies included in our review involved 2 337 199 participants with pre-existing disabilities and chronic conditions across 13 countries over a 20-year period. The findings demonstrated the following trends: (1) the impact on physical and mental health; (2) the impact on education and work; (3) barriers to accessing health and community services (i.e., lack of access to services, lack of knowledge about people with disabilities, communication challenges, lack of adequate housing); and (4) coping strategies (i.e., social supports and connecting to resources) and resilience.

Conclusions

Our findings highlight the critical need for rehabilitation clinicians and other service providers to explore opportunities to support their clients in preparing for climate-related emergencies.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Rehabilitation clinicians and community service providers are in a good position to potentially assess people with disabilities for their preparedness for extreme weather events.

• Rehabilitation clinicians could look for opportunities to educate themselves and their clients about available resources related to extreme weather events and preparedness.

• Rehabilitation and community service providers could seek to partner with local organizations to support their clients with disabilities.

• Rehabilitation health care providers might consider advocating for the inclusion of people with disabilities in climate justice responses at all levels of government (e.g., local, regional and national).

Keywords:

• Climate change
• environment
• extreme weather
• resilience
• vulnerability

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land. The authors thank the TRAIL lab staff for their support in this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).