Reducing The Risks of Extreme Heat

Oxfordshire County Council's Retrofit Team is working with researchers from Oxford Brookes University, University College London, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on three UKRI-funded research projects: ARCADE, HEARTH, and THERM-UK.

Together, these studies aim to improve understanding of how hot weather affects the health and wellbeing of people living and working in vulnerable settings, including care homes, extra care housing, retirement villages, and social housing. As the UK experiences warmer weather, these research projects are becoming increasingly important to help ensure that vulnerable settings remain cool, comfortable, and safe for residents and staff.

The Council is keen to hear from retirement villages, care homes, extra care schemes, and social housing providers that may be interested in supporting this important research.

What’s involved?

Participation is entirely voluntary, and participants may withdraw at any time.

Depending on the project, activities may include:

• The installation of a small discrete sensor in the bedroom, living room, communal areas, and staff rooms to monitor temperature, relative humidity, and CO2 levels (the sensors don’t have any audio or video recording capabilities)
• Short surveys taking approximately 10-15 minutes to complete to capture perceptions and experiences of extreme heat in the home/ place of work

Additionally, the researchers will model the buildings, taking into consideration future climate scenarios, and test low to zero cost adaptation measures to help reduce overheating risks.

The research has been designed to minimise disruption to day-to-day operations while contributing valuable insight that can help inform future guidance and policy and reduce health risks associated with extreme heat for residents and staff.

Next steps

If you would like to learn more about the research projects or discuss opportunities to get involved, please contact Oxfordshire County Council's Retrofit Team at retrofit@oxfordshire.gov.uk