Assessment of risk perception of heat, knowledge, practices and means of action in France

Macro

Main result 

Policy recommendation

Title

Assessment of risk perception of heat, knowledge, practices and means of action in France

Date  2021

Objectives

France has since 2004 a national heat-wave plan to protect the population, with a focus on the most vulnerable people. The plan is led by the Ministry of Health, and advice is widely distributed each summer among the population and local actors. At the local level, many stakeholders (such as department prefects, regional health agencies, cities, NGOs and health and social workers) are in charge of action in the field.

Location  /geographical coverage           

France

Organisation  responsible  for good  practice   

 WHO

Short  summary 

Since 2004 France has had a national heat-wave plan to protect the population, with a focus on the most vulnerable people. The plan is led by the Ministry of Health, and advice is widely distributed each summer among the population and local actors. The efficiency of the HHAP relies on implementation of preventive measures by the population and stakeholders, and this depends on their risk perception, knowledge, practices and means of action. The national authorities therefore assessed such factors in two studies –among the population and among local stakeholders. Local stakeholders tended to downplay the risks, not least because of the reduced availability of staff and hospital/shelter beds in summer. They also felt that it was difficult to tailor general prevention to specific needs (for example, people with certain diseases cannot drink a lot) or to convince vulnerable groups to change behaviours. Local stakeholders provided practical recommendations, including better targeting of specific populations at risk; simplification of materials for actors in the field; reinforcement of human resources in hospitals, homeless shelters and nursing homes during warm seasons; and reinforcing collaborations between actors at the local level.

Impact 

Local stakeholders tended to downplay the risks, not least because of the reduced availability of staff and hospital/shelter beds in summer. They also felt that it was difficult to tailor general prevention to specific needs (for example, people with certain diseases cannot drink a lot) or to convince vulnerable groups to change behaviours. Local stakeholders provided practical recommendations, including better targeting of specific populations at risk; simplification of materials for actors in the field; reinforcement of human resources in hospitals, homeless shelters, and nursing homes during warm seasons; and reinforcing collaborations between actors at the local level.

Lessons learned

The evidence shows that positive feelings about hot summers may undermine the willingness of vulnerable populations to protect themselves against heat, and even that the language used in warnings may in fact evoke positive feelings towards hazardous heat (Bruine de Bruin et al., 2016; Lefevre et al., 2015). Adequate heat risk communications should tackle the familiarity, low-dread factor and misleading positive feelings about extreme heat proactively. Effective risk communications about heat should be based on a factual understanding of the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of high-risk groups and their carers, as well as their understanding of the risks associated with heat-waves.

Contact details

Not given by the article

Related Web site(s)

 It’s a PDF

 Related resources that have been developed

A table showing what the population of France does to adapt during heat waves