van Loenhout, J.A.F.; Rodriguez-Llanes, J.M.; Guha-Sapir, D. Stakeholders’ Perception on National Heatwave Plans and Their Local Implementation in Belgium and The Netherlands. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2016, 13, 1120.
van Loenhout, J.A.F.; Rodriguez-Llanes, J.M.; Guha-Sapir, D. Stakeholders’ Perception on National Heatwave Plans and Their Local Implementation in Belgium and The Netherlands. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 1120.
van Loenhout, J.A.F.; Rodriguez-Llanes, J.M.; Guha-Sapir, D. Stakeholders’ Perception on National Heatwave Plans and Their Local Implementation in Belgium and The Netherlands. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2016, 13, 1120.
van Loenhout, J.A.F.; Rodriguez-Llanes, J.M.; Guha-Sapir, D. Stakeholders’ Perception on National Heatwave Plans and Their Local Implementation in Belgium and The Netherlands. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 1120.
Abstract
National heatwave plans are aimed at reducing the avoidable human health consequences due to heatwaves, by providing warnings to and improving communication between relevant stakeholders. The aim of this study was to assess the perceptions of key stakeholders within plans in Belgium and the Netherlands on their responsibilities, the partnerships, and the effectiveness of the local implementation in Brussels and Amsterdam. Key informant interviews were held with stakeholders that had an important role in development of the heatwave plan in these countries, or its implementation in Brussels or Amsterdam. Care organisations, including hospitals and elderly care organisations, had a lack of familiarity with the national heatwave plan in both cities, and prioritised heat the lowest. Some groups of individuals, specifically socially isolated individuals, are not sufficiently addressed by the current national heatwave plans and most local plans. Stakeholders reported that responsibilities were not clearly described and that the national plan does not describe tasks on a local level. We recommend to urgently increase awareness on the impact of heat on health among care organisations. More emphasis needs to be given to the variety of heat risk groups. Stakeholders should be involved in the development of updates of the plans.
Keywords
Heatwaves; health protection; perception; key informant interviews
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
