Rural Australians and the implications of heatwaves: An accident waiting to happen? — YRD
  1. Schedule
  2. Adaptation in Rural and Remote Communities (Oral Presentations)
  3. Rural Australians and the implications of heatwaves: An accident waiting to happen?

Rural Australians and the implications of heatwaves: An accident waiting to happen? (2812)

Leigh A Wilson 1 , Geoff C Morgan 2 , Deborah A Black 3 4
  1. Western Sydney University, Campbelltown., NSW, Australia
  2. Rural Clinical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  4. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine and explore the perception of heatwave risk in rural Australian residents aged over 65 years and to identify heatwave preparedness and adaptation strategies used by these residents when temperatures are extreme.

Design: Reflecting the exploratory nature of this research, face to face interviews and semi-structured focus groups were conducted.

Setting: Five rural towns in the Riverina region of NSW were included in this study.

Participants: Twenty five residents aged over 65 years living in a rural town for at least 20 years.

Main outcome measures: Participants’ interviews and focus group comments were explored using thematic analysis.

 Results: Three key themes were identified: (1) connection to place, (reluctance to leave the land, love of the hot climate, connection to family and heritage); (2) societal change (changing roles, methods of working and support networks but also weather changes) and (3) resilience (resilience to heat, resilience to change and stoic nature).

 Conclusions: The participants in this study generally had a low perception of heatwave risk. The majority displayed a strong connection to place and, reflecting similar studies, a stoic nature. These factors, in conjunction with the activities associated with a rural lifestyle put older rural Australian residents at increased risk of morbidity or mortality during heatwave events.