Faculty Collaboration Database

Climate seasonality and the health and well-being of older adults in rural Busia and Kilifi Counties, Kenya: SENIORS study - protocol for a qualitative study. BMJ Open 2025 Oct 02;15(10):e103956

Date

10/04/2025

Pubmed ID

41043838

Pubmed Central ID

PMC12496071

DOI

10.1136/bmjopen-2025-103956

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-105017754280 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Older adults are particularly vulnerable to climate-related stressors such as extreme heat, food and water insecurity and displacement, all of which can worsen existing health conditions. This is further compounded by age-related physiological changes, pre-existing health conditions and social factors like isolation and limited mobility. With a growing population of older adults in low-income and middle-income countries, their vulnerability to climate change becomes a critical global public health issue and yet is understudied and needs urgent and comprehensive action. This study aims to investigate how climate seasonality impacts the health, well-being and socioeconomic conditions of older adults in rural communities of Kenya.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This formative qualitative study will use a combination of 40 in-depth interviews with older adults and key informant interviews with 20 health workers and 12 policy-makers to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of climate seasonality on the health, well-being and socioeconomic conditions of older adults in rural communities of Busia and Kilifi Counties in Kenya. These counties were selected for the study due to their history of significant flooding and heat stress events. Study participants will be purposively selected for the interviews. A thematic approach will be employed in data analysis using NVivo V.14 software.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study received ethical approval from the Medical College of Wisconsin Institutional Review Board, Institutional Scientific Ethics Review Committee at Africa International University and National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation, Kenya. The study outputs will reflect the views and experiences of older adults, health workers and policy-makers. The findings will be disseminated to the scientific community through conferences and peer-reviewed publications and to the older adults, health workers, communities and policy-makers through videos and dissemination meetings, and policy briefs. The findings will deepen understanding of how climate seasonality is experienced by older people and shape strategies for resilience and adaptation.

Author List

Shumba CS, Dawson AZ, Xu W, Muchanga K, Lusambili A

Authors

Aprill Z. Dawson PhD, MPH Associate Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Constance S. Shumba PhD Associate Professor in the Institute for Health and Humanity department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Wei Xu PhD Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health and Humanity department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Aged
Climate Change
Female
Health Status
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Kenya
Male
Qualitative Research
Research Design
Rural Population
Seasons
Socioeconomic Factors