LHWL Shares Research on Extreme Heat and Aging at EHPS 2026
Heat, Aging and Health: Our Lab at EHPS 2026
Members of the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Lab shared their research at the 40th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, held September 1鈥�4, 2026, in Pafos, Cyprus.
Dr. Pauly and Patrick Klaiber co-chaired the symposium 鈥淔eeling the heat: risk perception and resilience in older adulthood.鈥� The session focused on how older adults understand the risks of extreme heat, how they respond, and the factors that may help protect their health and well-being.
Dr. Pauly's presentation, 鈥淗eat Risk Perception and Coping in Older Adults,鈥� addressed older adults鈥� perceptions of heat risk and their approaches to coping. Rona Zimerman Bar-Lev, from the COPE Israel team, presented research on the role of social connections in protecting older adults鈥� physical and mental health during extreme heat.
Patrick examined whether subjective age鈥攈ow old someone feels鈥攑redicts their perceptions of heat risk and the actions they take to protect themselves. His findings pointed to an important distinction: subjective age predicted perceptions of risk, but not protective action.
Aryana Mohamed, a master鈥檚 student in our lab, also presented her research at the conference.
Together, these contributions addressed a central question in heat and aging research: how can we better understand older adults鈥� experiences of extreme heat and support effective responses?