Grant: CG: CBR in Climate Change Pri. Areas-Health Imp. of Climate Change Older Adults

British Columbia (BC) is at the forefront of climate change-induced disasters, with the province experiencing unprecedented challenges from wildfires, floods, and heatwaves. Existing resources, such as emergency preparedness guidelines from Spinal Cord Injury BC, focus primarily on reactive measures for coping with the aftermath of sudden natural disasters, such as wildfires and floods. However, these resources offer few proactive solutions that help communities prepare for gradual but devastating climate impacts of increasingly common events like heatwaves and arctic vortexes. This project aims to bridge this gap by developing a region-specific, proactive climate-disaster toolkit tailored to the needs of vulnerable communities. The toolkit will integrate information about both reactive and proactive emergency planning strategies with long-term resilience measures like heat pump installations, building insulation, and accessible climate health information. Our methodology involves community-based participatory research and design-based thinking workshops to co-create the toolkit with community members. Its usability will then be evaluated based on feedback from individuals with a variety of different types of disabilities, their family members, and older adults. Outcomes of this project may include enhanced community climate resilience, community-driven climate vulnerability assessments, strengthened partnerships, and knowledge mobilization through community-authored publications and policy recommendations. The participatory methods and toolkit will serve as models for other urban centers facing similar climate challenges. By addressing the critical need for proactive and localized climate health information, this project takes an important step toward building a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable future for these vulnerable groups in BC and beyond.