Climate change is typically framed as concern for future generations, but for older people, that future is now. Already, older adults form the vast majority of deaths from climate-related disasters and face serious health impacts from hazards like heat, storms, and poor air quality. Despite this connection, research on the relationship between environmental issues and the older population has lagged behind. Studies have begun to increase in recent years, but they tend to be scattered across disciplines, focused on a narrow set of hazards, and disconnected from one another.

To help close that gap, the Cornell Initiative for Research on Climate and Aging (CIRCA) gathered an interdisciplinary group to answer the question: of all the things researchers could study about aging and climate change, which ones matter most to practitioners, policymakers, and older people themselves? The findings from this event were formed into a research agenda, which was recently published in the journal Innovation in Aging. Before this, no research agenda focused specifically on older people and climate change had been published.

The Research to Practice Consensus Workshop Model

Most research agendas are written by academics alone. CIRCA took a different approach, gathering both researchers and front-line workers to assess research priorities: a method called the Research-to-Practice Consensus Workshop (RPCW) model. The RPCW model acknowledges that that without direct on-the ground input, research risks overlooking the practical needs, barriers, and solutions of frontline service providers.

CIRCA brought together 44 professionals with expertise in aging services, aging-related research, public health, environmental policy, emergency management, healthcare, or related fields. Nearly half of the participants (45%) were practitioners working directly in aging services and community-based organizations, while 39% were researchers, and 16% worked in policy.

Through structured small-group discussions and an established priority-setting method, participants did three things: they critiqued the research that already exists, identified the biggest gaps in what we know, and worked toward consensus on where the field should go next. The resulting agenda reflects what the people actually working with older adults say they need answered in order to make real-world impact.

The Results

This workshop produced a set of 14 action-oriented research priorities, organized into 4 categories, designed to accelerate the development of climate resilience for older adults.

Systems and Policy

1. Research the societal economic impacts of climate change in relation to aging
2. Research innovative strategies for health care systems to embed climate preparedness,risk conversations, and planning for older adults
3. Examine how special interest groups influence climate and aging efforts
4. Research ways to address climate risks in long-term care and senior living environments

Communication and Education

5. Develop, evaluate, and disseminate evidence-based communication strategies to improve public understanding of climate change and to counter misinformation
6. Research dissemination methods and platforms for reaching older adults across all stages of climate emergency management
7. Develop and evaluate training for paid and unpaid caregivers to address climate risks

Equity and Access

8. Examine barriers for older adults’ access to climate change resilience and adaptation programs
9. Research the impacts of climate change on marginalized older adults, considering differences by age, race, gender, income, housing status, health, and other social factors

10. Examine how structural barriers impact older adults’ ability to avoid or adapt to climate risks

Individual Resilience

11. Create validated screening tools and protocols to assess climate vulnerability in older adults

12. Advance understanding of how social networks affect older adults during both short-term climate events and long-term adaptation and resilience efforts

13. Develop and leverage technology to promote climate adaptation and resilience in older adults

14. Research the ongoing psychological and mental health impacts of climate change on older adults

Interestingly, academic research on aging and climate change has focused heavily on public health epidemiology: mapping heat vulnerability, documenting mortality during specific events, and quantifying the health effects of individual hazards. But, the practitioners in the room largely set that aside. Having already seen the disproportionate toll on their older clients, they were less interested in more studies confirming that older adults are at risk, and far more interested in actionable knowledge that could shape programs, clinical practice, and policy.

The group specifically stressed the importance of the following items:

• ‍Economic analysis: quantifying the cost of inaction and the return on investment of protective measures is often what unlocks funding for things like cooling centers and emergency systems.
• Countering misinformation: older adults are especially vulnerable to misinformation, yet the specific intersection of older adults and climate misinformation is understudied.‍
• Program accessibility: older adults often can't use services that already exist, because of transportation gaps, lack of awareness, or communication barriers.‍
• Multi-hazard approach: olderadults don't experience heat, floods, power outages, and supply disruptions asseparate problems, they face them together, sometimes cascading.

Why It Matters

When researchers, funders, and program leaders share a common sense of priorities, efforts stop being duplicated, resources flow toward the highest-value questions, and evidence starts to accumulate in a way that can actually inform policy and practice. This paper offers that shared starting point: a practice-driven, evidence-informed framework for deciding what to study, what to build, and what to fund at the intersection of aging and climate change.

For a field that has grown quickly but unevenly, a clear map of where to go next is exactly what's needed. It is our hope that this agenda will help push forward necessary research in this field.