Gesundheitswesen
DOI: 10.1055/a-2903-6433

Changes in everyday life have great potential to promote a long and healthy life. At the same time, these changes are also climate-friendly in many areas, as they either reduce emissions or increase resilience to the impacts of climate change. This article provides an overview of everyday life changes in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and housing. It describes the current lifestyles of older adults in Austria based on statistics on health, time use, mobility and nutrition, as well as consumer surveys. However, lifestyle changes are not presented solely as a matter of individual behavior; the article also highlights the critical role of structural aspects such as infrastructure and public access, supply and price structures. We focus on the impact chains, which, based on the scientific literature, illustrate the pathways through which changes in everyday life have a beneficial effect on health and climate protection or for resilience.Finally, a secondary effect becomes relevant: A more health-promoting everyday life reduces the number of years spent in ill-health, thereby lowering the demand for medical treatment. This benefits both health and the climate, as hospital stays can strain mental health and carry the risk of secondary diseases. Further, as medical care is carbon-intensive, avoiding hospitalizations reduces greenhouse gas emissions.The intensifying impact of climate change increasingly requires a transition in key areas such as mobility, leisure, housing and nutrition. This transition offers an opportunity to make climate-friendly and healthy everyday life the new attractive norm. Health benefits can serve as a compelling argument for climate mitigation, which in turn can act as a lever for creating healthy living conditions in times of inevitable change. As global warming increases, so do the climate risks to human health, and the risk of crop failures, water shortages and damage to settlements and infrastructure. Yet a decisive transition has the potential to promote a good and healthy aging for all.
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Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

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Gesundheitswesen
DOI: 10.1055/a-2886-3229

Anthropogenic climate change presents significant health challenges for older people with care needs across all care settings, from private homes and supported living arrangements to institutional care facilities. Those particularly at risk include individuals with limited mobility, multimorbidity, or social isolation. Care and support systems therefore need to implement measures for both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation encompasses reducing energy and water consumption, minimising waste, decreasing reliance on fossil fuels, managing chemicals, and strengthening political and regulatory cooperation. Adaptation involves capacity building, technological innovation, financial management, education and research, monitoring and evaluation, as well as institutional and social support. The effectiveness of structural, organisational, and social measures, such as thermally resilient buildings, efficient ventilation and cooling systems, emergency power supply, secure water and waste infrastructure, hygiene standards, and community-based support services, is well documented. Good practice examples, including community-based support in home settings, structural and technical modernisation in care facilities, and strategic instruments in procurement and governance, demonstrate that climate-resilient strategies enhance care security, support the prevention of care dependency, improve the quality of life of older people, and simultaneously achieve ecological and economic objectives. Climate mitigation and adaptation are integral components of future-oriented, needs-based care, positioning care facilities and community structures as key levers for sustainable transformation.Der menschengemachte Klimawandel stellt ältere, pflegebedürftige Menschen in allen Versorgungssettings, von zu Hause über betreute Wohnformen bis hin zu Pflegeeinrichtungen, vor erhebliche gesundheitliche Herausforderungen. Besonders vulnerabel sind Personen mit eingeschränkter Mobilität, Multimorbidität oder sozialer Isolation. Pflege- und Betreuungsstrukturen müssen daher Maßnahmen zur Klimawandelminderung (Mitigation) und Klimawandelanpassung (Adaptation) umsetzen. Mitigation umfasst die Reduktion von Energie- und Wasserverbrauch, Abfallminimierung, Senkung fossiler Brennstoffnutzung, Chemikalienmanagement sowie politische und regulatorische Kooperation. Adaptation beinhaltet Kapazitätsaufbau, technologische Innovation, finanzielle Steuerung, Bildung und Forschung, Monitoring, Evaluation sowie institutionellen und sozialen Support. Die Wirksamkeit baulicher, organisatorischer und sozialer Maßnahmen, etwa thermisch robuste Gebäude, effiziente Belüftungs- und Kühlsysteme, Notstromversorgung, sichere Wasser- und Abfallinfrastruktur, Hygienestandards und kommunale Unterstützungsangebote, ist gut dokumentiert. Good-Practice-Beispiele wie kommunale Unterstützungsangebote im häuslichen Umfeld, bauliche und technische Modernisierungen in Pflegeeinrichtungen sowie strategische Instrumente im Beschaffungs- und Governancebereich zeigen, dass klimaresiliente Strategien die Versorgungssicherheit erhöhen, Pflegebedarfsprävention fördern, die Lebensqualität älterer Menschen verbessern und gleichzeitig ökologische sowie ökonomische Ziele erreichen. Klimaschutz und Klimaanpassung sind integrale Bestandteile einer zukunftsfähigen, bedarfsgerechten Versorgung und machen Pflegeeinrichtungen sowie kommunale Strukturen zu Hebeln für nachhaltigen Wandel.
[...]

Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

Article in Thieme eJournals:
Table of contents  |  Abstract  |  open access Full text