Keeping Each Other Safe: Who Checks on Their Neighbors During Weather Extremes in Summer and Winter?
Publication Date
7-26-2021
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
Graduate School of Social Work
Keywords
Extreme weather, Neighbor, Social capital, Heat, Winter
Abstract
Objective:
Weather extremes are increasing with climate change and associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Promotion of social connections is an emerging area of research and practice for risk reduction during weather extremes. This study examines the practice of checking on neighbors during extreme summer heat and extreme winter weather. Objectives are to (1) describe the extent of neighbor checking during these extremes, and (2) examine factors associated with neighbor checking.
Methods:
We analyze survey data (n = 442) from a primarily low- and moderate- income study sample in a Southeastern U.S. city, using descriptive statistics and logistic regression.
Results:
About 17.6% of participants checked on neighbors during extreme summer heat, and 25.2% did so during extreme winter weather. Being middle or older aged and having more adverse physical health impacts were positively associated with neighbor checking, for both extremes. For winter only, having less education was positively associated with neighbor checking.
Conclusions:
Community-based partnerships for reducing risk during weather extremes may consider people who are older or have experienced their own adverse health impacts as initial target groups for promoting neighbor checking. Future research should also examine the motivations for, details about, and impacts of neighbor checking in greater depth.
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Statement
This article was originally published as:
Mason, L., & Ekenga, C. (2021). Keeping each other safe: Who checks on their neighbors during weather extremes in summer and winter? Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 1-8. doi:10.1017/dmp.2021.175
Rights Holder
Lisa Reyes Mason, Christine C. Ekenga
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
8 pgs
File Size
239 KB
Publication Title
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
Volume
16
First Page
1
Last Page
16
Recommended Citation
Mason, Lisa Reyes and Ekenga, Christine C., "Keeping Each Other Safe: Who Checks on Their Neighbors During Weather Extremes in Summer and Winter?" (2021). Graduate School of Social Work: Faculty Scholarship. 161.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/gssw_facultyscholarship/161
https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2021.175
DOI Link
https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2021.175