ReviewEnvironmental health insights2026
Environmental Scan of Tools and Frameworks Assessing Climate-Related Health Vulnerabilities in Older Populations.
Review in Environmental health insights, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Climate change is intensifying health inequities, particularly among older adults who face heightened vulnerability to climate-related hazards. With the global senior population estimated at one billion and projected to increase by 20% by 2050, there is urgent need for health systems to identify and respond to their specific risks. This environmental scan aims to map and evaluate existing tools and frameworks used to assess climate-related health vulnerabilities in older adults, with a focus on informing equitable healthcare planning and system resilience. Research Design and Methods: Five electronic databases (ProQuest, Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase) and grey literature were searched. The PRISMA checklist was utilised to guide the review process and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) tool was used to appraise the studies. A total of 23 studies were identified and included in this review. Results: Of the 23 identified tools and frameworks, only two were explicitly designed for older adult populations and predominantly focused on heat-related risk assessments, accounting for 74% of climate hazards addressed. Most tools relied on general population indicators, potentially under-estimating age-specific vulnerability related to functional decline, care dependency, and social isolation. Studies were concentrated in East Asia and the Pacific and North America, with no representation from South Asia or the Middle East and North Africa, highlighting significant regional gaps. The majority of studies remain anchored in pre-2021 IPCC vulnerability models with limited update of newer risk-based frameworks. Discussion and Implications: This environmental scan highlights gaps for age-specific vulnerability assessment tools that capture the unique climate-risks facing older adults. Future work should explicitly adopt and clarify IPCC frameworks with standardised domain classifications, and integrate geriatric-specific indicators to improve risk assessment accuracy for this growing demographic.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.