New Funding for Studies to Adapt Health and Social Care Systems to Climate Change
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has awarded almost £700,000 in funding to 7 development award research projects addressing the impacts of climate change and extreme weather conditions on health and social care service delivery.
This investment is designed to boost the UK’s health and social care systems against the growing impacts of climate change. It is the first step in a larger effort to adapt health and social care systems to extreme weather conditions and strengthen national climate resilience.
Climate change is affecting the UK by causing extreme heat, floods and storm surges.
These challenges make it harder to deliver safe and effective care – affecting staff and patients in hospitals during heatwaves, as well as residents in care homes and other people who rely on social care support and facilities. The impacts of climate change are particularly crucial for vulnerable groups of populations.
Through the NIHR Climate Change and Health Development Awards, research teams have been asked to develop and test ideas that build resilience and adaptability in UK health and social care systems during extreme weather. The NIHR invested £690,750 in total for the development awards – up to £100,000 each. The teams will plan and deliver preparatory work for larger-scale research collaboration projects.
The funded research teams will focus on:
• Building research capacity in climate change and health adaptation
• Establishing partnerships between academics, health and social care professionals, and policymakers
• Developing strong research methods and securing access to essential data
• Identifying knowledge gaps and assessing the effects on infrastructure, staff and services – with a focus on vulnerable groups
This initial investment is designed to seed the next phase of ambitious research.
Future investment
The funding that the awardees will receive from the Development Awards will help them develop plans for ambitious research and prepare to apply for the NIHR Climate Change and Health Research Collaboration Awards. This call is also open to all researchers without a Development Award.
These larger awards will:
• provide funding of up to £2 million per project
• be contracted for up to 3 years for large, programmatic research
Taken together, these two funding opportunities start a major, long-term investment by DHSC and NIHR. It aims to build resilience into the core of health and social care in the UK.
Owing to the risks posed by climate change, the UN Climate Change Conferences (COP) have grown in importance over the last two decades. In the 26th Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow, Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive of the NIHR, set out the need for evidence to meet the challenges of the changing climate and highlighted this as a priority for NIHR.
Professor Danny McAuley, Scientific Director for NIHR Programmes, said: “We must focus on research that helps health systems adapt and build resilience as we face more extreme weather. Climate change will impact disadvantaged communities the most and we need to ensure health and care services can continue to provide the necessary care. It will also deepen existing health inequalities. That’s why these projects, which are focusing on some of the most vulnerable populations, are more important now than ever before.”
