April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Excessive Heat Risk Perceptions and Coping Strategies of Unhoused Populations in Rural South Carolina
Rising awareness of heat risks and the need to improve extreme heat preparedness strategies across scales from individuals to households, local governments, workplaces, states, and federal agencies is leading to more emphasis on communicating knowledge about heat vulnerability to individuals and more practical tools for heat planning and forecasting. The overall effectiveness of these efforts will be influenced by the perceptions of the risk and the priority placed on addressing it in ways that connect multiple actors and address their distinct options, constraints, and opportunities.
This paper focuses on one element of this multi-faceted issue: unhoused people's risk perceptions and coping strategies. The unhoused population is regularly identified as among the groups most underserved and vulnerable to extreme heat due to prolonged exposure, frequency of mental and physical health issues, and limited coping resources. While the vulnerability is broadly acknowledged, research on health communication behaviors among the unhoused population has received limited attention. Certainly less common, and to the best of our knowledge nonexistent, is research that addresses how unhoused individuals perceive the severity of heat risks and their strategies to avoid heat-related illness.
We developed a survey instrument based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to address this gap. We augmented it with additional questions on coping strategies, including information-seeking and media use. In the Summer of 2022, we conducted structured interviews with unhoused individuals around the public library in a large metropolitan city in South Carolina. Results for our model showed that the TPB predictor variables significantly predicted the intention to avoid heat, accounting for 17.9% of the dependent variable. Media use, including accessing weather on local television, radio, and on mobile devices, was also significantly associated with the intention to avoid the heat. Our results provide insight for academics, practitioners, and community officials working directly with unhoused populations to manage excessive heat communication warnings.
This paper focuses on one element of this multi-faceted issue: unhoused people's risk perceptions and coping strategies. The unhoused population is regularly identified as among the groups most underserved and vulnerable to extreme heat due to prolonged exposure, frequency of mental and physical health issues, and limited coping resources. While the vulnerability is broadly acknowledged, research on health communication behaviors among the unhoused population has received limited attention. Certainly less common, and to the best of our knowledge nonexistent, is research that addresses how unhoused individuals perceive the severity of heat risks and their strategies to avoid heat-related illness.
We developed a survey instrument based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to address this gap. We augmented it with additional questions on coping strategies, including information-seeking and media use. In the Summer of 2022, we conducted structured interviews with unhoused individuals around the public library in a large metropolitan city in South Carolina. Results for our model showed that the TPB predictor variables significantly predicted the intention to avoid heat, accounting for 17.9% of the dependent variable. Media use, including accessing weather on local television, radio, and on mobile devices, was also significantly associated with the intention to avoid the heat. Our results provide insight for academics, practitioners, and community officials working directly with unhoused populations to manage excessive heat communication warnings.