Lisbon´s urban climate

In the last decades, this project team members have been dedicated to research Lisbon´s urban climate (A Lopes et al., 2011; A. Lopes & Vieira, 2002; Lopes et al., 2013; Matias &Lopes, 2020; Nouri et al., 2018; Oliveira et al., 2020a, 2020b; Reis et al., 2020; Reis & Lopes, 2019; Vasconcelos & Lopes, 2006). The development of these studies on the outdoor thermal environment of Lisbon made it possible to apply the scientific knowledge to the urban planning (Alcoforado et al., 2009) and allowed a better understanding of association between heat stress and the several health outcomes in Lisbon (Almendra et al., 2019; Franco et al., 2020; Pereira et al., 2020).
Despite the applied knowledge on Lisbon´s urban climate, the underlying reasons for the increase in heat-wave-induced mortality remains unclear, and several authors have been highlighting the need for developing evidence-based thresholds for the activation and implementation of action plans to protect the health of heat-vulnerable among elderly populations.

Risk factors for heat-related mortality

Risk factors for heat-related mortality in the elderly can be organized into three categories:

  • Physiological aspects, such as the age-related decline in health, pre-existing medical conditions, obesity, and mental health (Bretin et al., 2004; Keller, 2015; Laaidi et al., 2012;Loughnan et al., 2015; Semenza et al., 1996);
  • Socioeconomic factors, such as reduced incom e, high energy costs, house materials, number of air-conditioning units, pitch of the roof, lack of thermal insulation and number of heat-mitigation modifications made to the home (Flores-Larsen & Filippín, 2021; Lass et al., 2011) and;
  • Psychosocial issues, such as the inability to care for oneself, social isolation and lack of social network s, beliefs and attitudes regarding heat-related effects on human health (Bouchama et al., 2007; Nunes, 2018; Vandentorren et al., 2006b).

Furthermore, the gaps on the state of the art on energy poverty and indoor and thermal comfort were identified on a recent publication that highlighted (Bouzarovski, 2018):

  1. the need to understand individual specific conditions associated to health events related to heat waves;
  2. the understanding of the impact of extreme events on health and
  3. better understanding of psychosocial impacts of energy poverty in addition to its well established relationship with mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and social exclusion.

Project main goal

IN-HALE project aims to identify the thermal summer conditions inside the residences of residents over 65 years of age and to identify the individual determinants of exposure to heat, as well as the barriers (material and/or immaterial) for thermal adaptation. To this end, we will monitor the indoors thermal environment environment of 20 dwellings, through visits of objective assessment of the thermal behaviour of the dwellings and using the installation of thermal dataloggers during the summer period.

Simultaneously, the thermal comfort of its residents will be evaluated, as well as individual adaptation behaviours during events of excessive heat, through semi-structured telephone interviews and individual in-depth interviews, carried out face to face by trained interviewers.

Specific goals

  1. Characterization of indoor thermal performance during excessive heat events, among individuals with 65+ years old;
  2. Characterization of adaptation measures taken by residents (65+ years old) during excessive heat events;
  3. Assessment of indoor thermal sensation of individuals 65+ years old during excessive heat events;
  4. Identification of sociodemographic and psychosocial, among individuals with 65+ years old determinants of inability to cool the indoor environment, among individuals with 65+ years old, during excessive heat events;
  5. Identification of the health-related impacts felt by residents (65+ years old) during excessive heat events;

The outputs of IN-HALE will be a policy brief on promoting indoors thermal comfort, a communication plan for municipal actions to promote environmental health centred, and a training program aimed at raising awareness among the elderly population about the importance of thermal comfort for health.

IN-HALE [EXPL/GES-AMB/0280/2021] was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia