Elderly commissioner warns of heatwave impact on older adults

Commissioner sounds warning for elderly people as summer temperatures continue to rise

June registered the first heatwave of the summer with temperatures ranging between 34C and 35C
June registered the first heatwave of the summer with temperatures ranging between 34C and 35C

High temperatures can be “easily life threatening” in older adults, Elderly Commissioner Alexander Attard warns as he urges special attention for those who live alone. 

Heatwaves affect older persons in a disproportionate manner when compared to younger age groups, Attard writes in an opinion piece for MaltaToday

Keeping cool and hydrated are important to reduce the risks from overheating but Attard sounds a warning for elderly people who may not have relatives looking out for them. 

“Social and local community services should identify those that live alone and do not have family backup and establish a service for monitoring the condition of these individuals,” he says. 

Attard adds that social isolation and limited mobility may result in persons, whose clinical status is worsening in the heat, being missed with potentially serious consequences. 

“Pensioners on limited income may not be able to afford investing in air conditioners to minimise the risk and may not be in a position to venture out to cooler environments,” he says. 

The effects of overheating, he adds, range from simple muscle cramps due to electrolyte loss, heat exhaustion with weakness, dizziness and headaches and finally heatstroke, which is a medical emergency. Heatstroke leads to confusion, seizures, loss of consciousness and multi organ failure. “The latter, potentially fatal stage, is commonest in older persons,” Attard says. 

His warning comes as statistics released by the Meteorological Office at Malta International Airport show that June was markedly hotter than usual. Air temperature lingered at an average of 26.3°C, which was 2.3°C above the climatic norm, throughout the month. 

June also registered the first heatwave of the summer between 24 and 27 June with temperatures ranging between 34°C and 35°C. 

A heatwave is when the average maximum temperature is at least 5°C higher than the monthly norm for three or more days. 

Attard says that a long heatwave in 2023 resulted in approximately 80 deaths in Malta but specific statistics for older people were not given. He says that although elderly people are more vulnerable, heat related problems should be totally preventable. 

“A single death from overheating is a death too many,” he says.