Social and Emotional Wellbeing impacts of prolonged extreme heat driven by climate change: lived experiences of public housing residents in a regional community in Victoria, Australia.

Abstract

The increasing pace of climate change is expected to give rise to more severe and more frequent adverse climate events. Significant amongst these is the increased frequency of prolonged periods of extreme heat, with concomitant impacts on human health. The existing literature on this topic focuses predominantly on the quantifiable physical health impacts of extreme heat; much less researched is its effect on social and emotional wellbeing. My research focuses on people residing in public housing in a community (pseudonym, ‘Sunset Country’) located in northwest Victoria, Australia, where severe heatwaves are a common occurrence. In Australia, there is no clear legislation around the provision of cooling in public housing. Hence, the health and wellbeing of public housing residents in Sunset Country are at serious risk during prolonged periods of extreme heat due to their having no means of keeping their homes cool or escaping the heat. The overall aim of my research was to explore the lived experiences of public housing residents living on Sunset Country, to understand how prolonged extreme heat exposure impacts their social and emotional wellbeing. Employing a qualitative methodological framework based on community engagement and participatory action research principles, I conducted eight focus groups and one in-depth interview with public housing residents living on Sunset Country and the service providers who support them. Using thematic analysis, I developed two major themes: first, that extreme heat impacts the emotional wellbeing of public housing residents (with subthemes around mood changes, inability to cope, anxiety, the exacerbation of mental health conditions and effects of insufficient sleep on school performance), and second, that extreme heat impacts the social wellbeing of public housing residents, with subthemes of social isolation, erosion of social cohesion, increased conflict and reduction in community safety). The participants’ lived experiences contribute to three overarching theories grounded in my data. Firstly, policies are not keeping up with the changing climate; despite significant increases in the severity of heatwaves, there have been no amendments to public housing policy addressing the need for cooling legislation. Secondly, there is an apparent misalignment of governmental rhetoric and action; public housing in Sunset Country may not be fit for habitation given the lack of protection against extreme heat, and thus perpetuates inequalities in the community. Finally, bureaucratic failings contribute to the cycle of disadvantage and disempowerment experienced by public housing residents, reducing individual agency. My research findings make a significant contribution to building knowledge around the previously underexplored relationship between extreme heat and social and emotional wellbeing. Based on the perspectives and concerns voiced by my participants, I provide several recommendations for action. These include the development of sustainable climate adaptation strategies and urgent policy action to improve public housing living standards, aligning with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Research must endeavour to give voice to people already impacted by the effects of climate change to gain deeper and more holistic understandings of these issues and their social and emotional impacts. Lived experience knowledge can then be used to urgently develop appropriate climate adaptation strategies to effectively safeguard human health and prevent societal inequities from widening.