81歲的司徒少敖(音譯)表示,政府和社區團體應該對年長者提供更多直接教育,告訴他們如何在極端天氣下保護自身安全。

非營利組織稱:保護華埠長者免受氣候災難影響 需更多資金

極端天氣事件近年來造成許多嚴重破壞和人員傷亡。2022年,歐洲熱浪及南亞、西非和中非的洪水導致數千人死亡;2023年,夏威夷茂宜島發生的野火是美國有史以來死亡人數最多的火災之一,奪走了100條人命;加拿大野火造成成千上萬人流離失所,迫使美國對超過1億2000萬居民發佈空氣品質警報。

儘管全人類都受到自然災害的影響,但美國環保署警告,因為既有疾病、免疫力低下、行動不便和其他健康問題,包括老年人在內的部分人口面對的風險比其他人要高。

A man in his eighties sits on his bed in a small single-room occupancy residence in Chinatown. Behind him is a window where he hangs his clothes. There are assorted items beside him, including a desk fan, a television, newspapers and cardboard boxes.

Protecting Chinatown’s Older Adults From Climate Disasters Requires More Funding, Nonprofits Say

Community organizations say the systems in Chinatown to protect older populations during extreme weather are not enough to meet the needs that could arise. Without sufficient financial backing, the health of many older residents in the neighborhood could be threatened during extreme weather disasters. Similar scenarios could transpire in San Francisco’s other climate-vulnerable areas.

Red lanterns and flags are strung across the roadway on a block in San Francisco's Chinatown. Most of the three and four-story buildings have shops on the ground floor and apartments or offices above. Many of them have wrought iron balconies that are painted green.

For Chinatown’s Older Residents in SROs, Climate Disasters Pose Greater Risks

Chinatown faces higher threats during periods of extreme weather due to a range of socio-economic factors as well as the built environment. Within the neighborhood, older adults living in single-room occupancy buildings are among the populations at heightened risk. Reasons for this include physiological changes related to aging and financial barriers associated with making climate-resiliency adaptations to older buildings.

A person walks across the frame in front of a short set of stairs leading to the entrance of Laguna Honda Hospital. The hospital — a 780-bed facility on 62 acres in San Francisco’s Twin Peaks neighborhood — is facing challenges in fulfilling a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mandate to move out all patients by Sept. 13, 2022, before it can apply to the centers for recertification.

Laguna Honda Hospital Has to Self-Destruct to Survive

Administrators are overhauling policies and procedures to regain federal funding that is set to expire following the issuance of multiple damning inspection reports at Laguna Honda Hospital. They have until Sept. 13 to implement changes, which include a requirement to transfer or discharge all patients, before they can apply for recertification from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Long-term care advocates in front of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Long-Term Care Residents Need Visitation to Thrive, Advocates Say

On the sidewalk in front of the San Francisco Department of Public Health on Thursday morning, a dozen or so activists stood holding yellow signs reading “Isolation kills, too!” Julie Schneider, the field service coordinator for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, was one of these advocates for residents of facilities like nursing homes, who have been calling for in-person visitation in long-term care to resume promptly. “Civic” spoke with Schneider and volunteer ombudsman Richard Correia at the demonstration. “If you spend enough time around people that are in the end stages of their life, there are things that keep them going. And then there are times when, you know, they lose the will,” Correia said. One of those things is seeing loved ones, he said.

Nonprofit Brings COVID-19 Vaccines to Seniors

Self-Help for the Elderly, has stepped in not just with advocacy for improved access to vaccines, but by bringing doctors who can administer vaccines to the seniors who need them at community centers they already visit. President and CEO Anni Chung joined “Civic” to share how the organization has been vaccinating the seniors it serves.